Myanmar's MMA Hero Aung La N Sang Enters Politics?
On June 30, Aung La N Sang, 32, dethroned Vitaly Bigdash, 32, as ONE middleweight world champion. The former became Myanmar's first-ever mixed martial arts champion and his success inspired and united his nation.
More than 8,000 MMA fans watched as Aung and his Russian opponent battled it out in Thuwunna Indoor Stadium in Yangon, Myanmar, Frontier Myanmar reported. After five five-minute rounds, the judges unanimously declared Aung as the newest champion of Asia's largest promotion ONE Championship.
Aung's historic feat did not only cement his status arguably as the country's most famous athlete. It has revived interest in his political views.
Entering politics is not one of the priorities of Aung right now. However, this does not mean that he refuses to express his political views.
The newly crowned ONE middleweight world champion is a native of Kachin State. Since 2011, thousands have been either killed or displaced in the area due to the civil war between Myanmar's army and local rebels.
This situation makes Aung sad. On this particular political subject, he is neither neutral nor supportive of the civil war.
"But I'm not going to condemn a political party because that would put me in a political stance and I just don't want to be a political figure," Aung told Channel NewsAsia. "I'm not a politician. I'm just an athlete."
What Aung hopes is to bring the people of Myanmar and the nation itself together. While this is not on his job description as an MMA fighter, he explained that he understands the impact he has had on people in his country, which motivates him to work even harder.
Aung's victory as an MMA fighter synchronizes with the growing fans base of MMA particularly in Asia. Aside from the Burmese fighter, other Asian MMA heroes of today include Eduard Folayang, 32, of the Philippines, Angela Lee, 21, of Singapore and Choi Doo Ho, 26, of South Korea.
The recent bout between Aung and Bigdash was a rematch. Watch a video featuring the two MMA fighters here:
