How This Premier Gym Is Making Aung La N Sang A Better Champion

Aung La “The Burmese Python” N Sang is living a hard knock life to become an all-conquering World Champion.

The reigning ONE Middleweight and Light Heavyweight World Champion has always sought out coaches and teammates that would make him a better competitor, and he has made big changes to his life in 2018 to that end.

Earlier this year, the Myanmar hero went to Florida to begin training at a new facility he believed would help him continue his evolution as a martial artist.

Under the watchful eye of head coach Henri Hooft and the team at Hard Knocks 365, Aung La N Sang has seen instant results as he has earned knockouts in each of his last two World Title bouts.

He will look for his third consecutive knockout victory when he faces Mohammad “O Lutador” Karaki at ONE: PURSUIT OF GREATNESS on Friday, 26 October in the second defense of his middleweight crown.

“I came down to Florida and did a private session with Henri Hooft, and he made a really good connection as a coach. Then I got a chance to work with the team at Hard Knocks, and I liked how they worked,” the 33-year-old explains.

“I liked that everybody is there to get each other better. It’s a very serious group of people. They’re there to make a living. They’re there to do a job. I like that environment.

“I did my first two camps this year in Florida, and the first fight this year was a first-round knockout. The second fight was a fifth-round knockout. You know for a fact that I’m getting better.”

“The Burmese Python” originally traveled to Florida to check out another gym – American Top Team, which is where his upcoming opponent is currently preparing merely a few kilometers down the road.

While the result of his trip was unexpected, the two-division ONE World Champion could not imagine a better place to be now. The instruction he is receiving from Hooft and company is paying dividends with each performance.

Aung La N Sang is improving in the areas where he was already strongest and filling the gaps in areas where he has struggled in the past.

“The coaches believe in you. They teach fundamentally sound techniques,” he explains.

“They don’t try to teach you too much fancy stuff. They teach you simple stuff that works very effectively.

“My wrestling is my weakness, and they have wrestling legends like Greg Jones and Kenny Monday – very, very high-level wrestlers.

“Working with them on my wrestling just makes me better, and then working with Henri Hooft’s system of kickboxing and striking is very simple, but very effective, and it works well with me.”

Aung La N Sang showed just how committed he was to his new team by moving with his wife and son to Florida just a few months ago.

For his first two camps of the year, he was forced to leave his family while he figured out if this gym was going to become his permanent home.

Now they are with him, and the Myanmar hero has found he is a better mixed martial artist because of it.

“When you’re in training camp, sometimes when your family is not there, you don’t sleep as well. When your wife and 3-year old son aren’t there, you miss them,” he explains.

“I brought them here, and we’re here living so I can train here full-time and be here year-round.

“You get to see your son when you come back home from practice. You get to see your wife when you come back home from practice. You get to have dinner with them. You get to go to bed with them. It’s a simple but luxurious thing for me.”

The results are definitely paying off, and Aung La N Sang is excited to show even more improvements when he returns to action in his native Myanmar on 26 October.

“The group of guys there and I had a really instant connection. I knew with them I could get better,” he says.

“They’re high-level guys, they’re always willing to help, and they’re always there to push you. That’s only going to make me better. It’s a really pro mixed martial arts room. It’s taking that training to another level.”