“The best weight class for me” - Aung La N Sang says middleweight bracket allows him to be ‘the best version’ of himself
Aung La N Sang is focused on regaining ONE gold at middleweight.
Between 2017 and 2019, he went on a seven-fight win streak as a two-division MMA world champion in the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions.
'The Burmese Python' later lost his world titles in back-to-back fights against Reinier de Ridder, ending his legendary run.
Since then, the Myanmar athlete has won four of his last five fights, all wins inside the distance, including three middleweight bouts at two at catchweight.
Some fans have questioned if the 39-year-old plans to prioritize the lower weight class moving forward or if he's interested in potentially returning to light heavyweight.
During an interview with the South China Morning Post, the former two-division MMA world champion had this to say about the situation:
"Yea, middleweight is the best weight class for me. I’m not even gonna go up that much to be in the middleweight and be the best version of myself and put on some good fights."
Watch Aung La N Sang's entire interview with the South China Morning Post below:
Aung La N Sang looks to continue road back to gold at ONE 168: Denver
Aung La N Sang is riding a three-fight winning streak after taking out Yushin Okami (first-round knockout), Gilberto Galvao (first-round knockout), and Fan Rong (second-round submission).
'The Burmese Python' now looks to secure a middleweight MMA title shot against Anatoly Malykhin.
On September 6, the Kill Cliff FC athlete will be featured at the highly-anticipated ONE 168: Denver, which goes down inside the Ball Arena. The 39-year-old's latest opponent is Shamil Erdogan, who made his promotional debut in June 2023 and defeated Fan Rong by second-round knockout.
Aung La N Sang vs Erdogan is undoubtedly one of the most underrated fights at ONE 168. The middleweight contenders have dangerous finishing abilities and added motivation to secure a matchup against three-division MMA king Anatoly Malykhin. It'll be intriguing to see who emerges victorious in front of the American crowd.
Tickets for next week's ONE 168: Denver can be found on Ticketmaster.