Black Belt Team 
Former two-division World Champion Aung La N Sang will finally get a chance to compete against Yushin Okami at ONE 163: Akimoto vs. Petchtanong on Saturday, November 19. It has been a matchup he has been calling for, and now he will have his chance against the Japanese martial arts legend inside the Circle.
Once the ink hit the paper to make the contest official, “The Burmese Python” felt focused on the task at hand.
“I feel like I have a mission now. As a fighter, nothing is certain until you sign on the dotted lines. For me to get the contract signed and ready to go, it feels like I’m on a mission now,” Aung La N Sang told ONE Championship.
“He’s one of the Asian mixed martial artists I looked up to in the last 10 years and he’s fought in different high-level organizations, so he’s a great one to test myself with.”
The matchup against Okami is more than just a dream match for the middleweight athlete. It is a chance for him to showcase the hard work he has put in at Kill Cliff Fight Club to improve upon his grappling. It has been an area of focus for the former champion and one he believes can push him to the top of the mountain again.
Aung La N Sang was blunt in saying that Okami is the exact kind of athlete he has struggled against in the past, but that is precisely why he is excited to show the world he has made strides in his game. If he can prove to handle Okami’s grappling and walk away with a dominant victory, the former champion will put himself right back in the mix in the division.
“Stylistically, I think he’s problematic for me. He’s longer, and he has more range as a grappler, and that’s the kind of fight that I have problems with. And so this is stylistically, for him, a good matchup, and for me, I feel like it’s a good matchup too. I’ve been working on my weaknesses, and I think this fight is going to be a great fight for me to rebound and be on the right path in my attempt to get my [middleweight] title back,” said “The Burmese Python.”
“To become the best version of myself – and knowing that the best version of myself on any given day can beat anybody in the world – is what excites me and what motivates me to get better and to work on my weaknesses. And everybody has weaknesses. There’s no fighter that has no weaknesses. So for me, it’s something to make me a better fighter.”
Although it would be preferable for the Myanmar star to score an early knockout, he knows the toughness of Okami likely means he is in for a war on November 19. But Aung La N Sang excels in gritty battles. When the bell rings for the first round, he will be laser-focused with one goal — breaking Okami.
“I’m going to look to break him. As soon as we touch gloves, I’m going to look to break him.”
ONE 163: Akimoto vs. Petchtanong airs live and free on watch.onefc.com on Friday, November 19, at 5 a.m. ET/2 a.m. PT. Tickets for the event are on sale now at Ticketmaster.
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