5 Filipino MMA fighters leading the charge for Team Lakay in ONE Championship

#4. Jeremy Pacatiw (MMA: 10-4)

Flyweight MMA phenom Jeremy ‘The Juggernaut’ Pacatiw is one of Team Lakay’s newest additions to ONE Championship. The 25-year-old is a former Brave CF combatant who joined the promotion earlier this year.

Pacatiw is long and athletic and is a very well-rounded fighter. Team Lakay athletes traditionally honed their skills by focusing on a distinct wushu style that’s popular in the Cordilleras. However, ‘The Juggernaut’ is part of the so-called “new breed” of Team Lakay fighters who have trained specifically for MMA and have been able to combine their striking and grappling skills seamlessly.

Pacatiw made his ONE Championship debut last July at ONE: Battleground, where he faced off against China’s ‘The Ghost’ Chen Rui in a flyweight MMA contest. The 25-year-old prospect used constant movement to stifle his opponent. This erratic style makes Pacatiw extremely hard to hit.

Based on what we’ve seen from Pacatiw early on in his ONE Championship stint, ‘The Juggernaut’ has tremendous upside. It will be interesting to see how far he can go in the promotion.

---

#3. Jhanlo Sangiao (MMA: 3-0)

Next up is 19-year-old Jhanlo Sangiao, Team Lakay head coach Mark Sangiao’s own son. The Filipino teenage sensation is 3-0 in his career as a professional, and recently joined ONE Championship earlier this year alongside Pacatiw.

He inherits his father’s ‘The Machine’ moniker, but that’s not the full extent of it. Insiders say Jhanlo is the team’s brightest prospect, bringing together all of the team’s strengths such as Kevin Belingon’s thunderous hands, Joshua Pacio’s fight IQ and Eduard Folayang’s heart among others. They say Jhanlo is the prime embodiment of Team Lakay martial arts.

There are certainly lofty expectations surrounding the younger Sangiao’s blossoming MMA career. There’s no doubt a ton of pressure on the kid to perform under the brightest lights in the business.

Jhanlo finally gets the chance to strut his wares this December, when he takes on Indonesian veteran Paul ‘The Great King’ Lumihi at ONE: Winter Warriors in Singapore.