Aung La N Sang is very proud of his Brumese roots. A deep part of that heritage is the ancient martial art of lethwei.
The 36-year-old is one of the OG's of ONE Championship, having first stepped inside the circle in 2014. Back then, the organization focussed primarily on mixed martial arts. It's now home to a multitude of disciplines. In March, the promotion hosted its first mixed-rules fight as Demetrious Johnson took on Rodtang in alternate rounds of Muay Thai and MMA.
Aung La N Sang has expressed interest to compete in a similar match but with lethwei brought into the mix. Speaking in an interview with SCMP MMA he said:
"For sure [I'd do it]. Or if they do like a lethwei-style MMA fight where you can headbutt too."
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'The Burmese Python' was then asked about training with 'King of Lethwei' Dave Leduc. To which he responded:
"That would be amazing. I've trained with him before so it would be great. He's a good dude."
ONE Championship has promoted lethwei fights in the past and ALS has often expressed an interest in wanting to compete in his ancestral home's most beloved martial art one day. A mixed-rules fight could be the perfect introduction.
Aung La N Sang has been working on his ground game
It's no secret that the Sandford MMA man has some of the deadliest hands in ONE Championship. Before losing to Reinier de Ridder, the former champ-champ was riding a streak of five straight knockout victories.
'It's good,' Aung La N Sang explained. 'I'm just getting comfortable again being on the ground. Previously i've been too comfortable on my feet knocking people out. So now i've got to go back to my roots and work on my JiuJitsu, get my JiuJitsu game a little bit better, get my wrestling game a little bit better,' he added.
The former middleweight and light heavyweight king lost both belts to De Ridder. The Dutchman has a black belt in BJJ and Judo, and is arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter in the organization at present. 'The Dutch Knight' stopped by at Aung La's gym recently where the pair did some training together.
The Asian MMA star has said that he won't shave his beard until he's won back the title, and his focus on improving any potential areas of weakness will undoubtedly help him to do just that.