Aung La N Sang Unveils His Mixed Martial Arts Plans For Myanmar
ONE Middleweight and Light Heavyweight World Champion Aung La N Sang has become a hero in Myanmar, and he wants to use his profile to benefit the people of his home country.
“The Burmese Python” – who will defend his middleweight belt against Mohammad “O Lutador” Karaki at ONE: PURSUIT OF GREATNESS in Yangon’s Thuwunna Indoor Stadium on Friday, 26 October – is dedicated to helping the country’s youth flourish through mixed martial arts.
The sport has given him a career that provides for his family, and Aung La N Sang hopes to help give people an opportunity to do the same through his plans for a scholarship program and school in the near future.
“There is a lot of interest in mixed martial arts now because of my success, and there’s a lot of people that want to invest [in the sport],” the 33-year-old says.
“I want to help out my community. I want to help out the place I grew up in.
“I’m going to be running some programs where I’m going to take some kids and have them go to school and get a free education and learn [mixed martial arts] – a world-class level of training.
“They’ll be going to school every day, they’ll be fed, they’ll have housing, and they’ll be learning martial arts. That is the plan.”
In the United States, basketball superstar LeBron James recently helped to open a school in his hometown for underprivileged children, and Aung La N Sang points to that as a perfect example of what he hopes to accomplish in Myanmar with his scholarship program.
“What LeBron James is doing is amazing. I want to do something similar to that,” Aung La N Sang says.
“I come from a different world. It’s a village. We were very isolated. As somebody from that region, from that part of the world, you feel small when you think about other people from other countries with all this technology and all this [wealth]. I want to be able to lift those people up as well.”
Over time, the two-division ONE World Champion wants to help mixed martial arts evolve in his native land and give the people of Myanmar a chance to flourish alongside him.
The program is still in its infancy, but “The Burmese Python” is committed to his realizing his dream for Myanmar, and he will not be satisfied until it becomes a reality.
“A lot of the community wants to be part of the program,” he says.
“There’s still a lot of details [that need to be worked] out right now, but I have the means to do it, and I have the support to do it. I don’t want to just make it a one-time thing. I want to make it a long-term thing.”
In addition to his scholarship program, the Hard Knocks 365 representative already has plans in place to open several gyms in Myanmar that will teach martial arts to the community.
He plans for that project to begin soon after he faces Karaki on 26 October.
“We’re going to open one or two gyms this year after my fight. We’re not playing,” he says.
As a World Champion, Aung La N Sang knows a lot of people look up to him, and he will never take that for granted.
That is why he is trying to use his position to help the people in Myanmar and influence the youth with these life-changing opportunities.
“It’s very important for me because if you’re in a position to help, I believe you should help others,” he explains.
“If you’re in a position to make a difference, which I am right now, I’m going to use that position, and I’m going to use that platform to inspire and to bring a new generation up.”
