ONE Championship: Team Lakay stars in independent film '1941'

Team Lakay is one of the most popular MMA stables in ONE Championship and are set to star in a Filipino movie called '1941'

Coach Mark Sangiao takes pride in Team Lakay's participation in the local flick as it will portray events that took place in their hometown during World War II.

"The film revolves around some scenes in Cordillera during the Japanese war time. It’s based on some historical accounts but has a fictional love story as well," said Sangiao to Sportskeeda. "It depicts the warrior spirits of Cordillerians that they are ready to defend their family, their land and their people even it means sacrificing their own lives."

Starring in the movie are ONE Championship fighters Geje Eustaquio, Lito Adiwang, Jhanlo Sangiao, Stephen Loman and reigning strawweight titleholder Joshua Pacio.

The movie also explains why Team Lakay fighters always show their Igorot warrior spirit while competing in ONE Championship. Their tribe's ancestors have always played important roles in the history of the Philippines. They were the only Filipinos that were able to resist Spanish conquest and were also very resilient during the Philippine-American War and World War II.

According to Sangiao:

"This goes true for our modern Cordillera warriors and heroes which are our Team Lakay athletes that we are ready to go to battle and waive our flag to show the whole world what an Igorot is made of - that we are natural warriors physically and mentally."

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Team Lakay took time off competing in ONE Championship and savored the experience of movie-making

Mark Sangiao explained the challenges of the movie as it was shot during the height of the pandemic in the Philippines. Despite the odds, the film was finished and it was a great time for the fighters to relax from competing in ONE Championship and try something new.

"When it comes to experience, it was fun and great bonding experience for all the cast, production team and of course the fighters from Team Lakay like Geje, Joshua, Lito, Jhanlo and Stephen," said Sangiao.

This is not the first time Sangiao has appeared in movies as he bared. Having a hectic schedule managing MMA fighters in ONE Championship, he finds himself living in the moment and recalls how fulfilling it is to act in a feature film.

"It was not actually my first time to act since I already had a movie before but it reminded me that is is also fun to act especially in the fighting scenes. It demanded time but it was very fun."