Aung La N Sang hints at early-2022 ONE Championship bout

Aung La N Sang hints at early-2022 for a return to combative competition via his personal Facebook page.

Without a specified date or an outlined opponent, N Sang left things wide open. Something for the collective imagination of the ONE fanbase to run wild with.

In making some inferences, there are a few possible options that pop up here.

The former ONE middleweight and ONE light heavyweight world champion was bantering a bit recently with former UFC middleweight title challenger Yushin Okami about them possibly fighting.

Alas, Okami would end up getting booked against Leandro Ataides at ONE: Heavy Hitters in January 2022.

Vitaly Bigdash stands out as a prominent option for Aung La N Sang. As that would be a rubber match that many pundits and fans of ONE Championship alike have wanted for years.

The two men split a pair of contests with one another in 2017. With the ONE middleweight world championship changing hands.

N Sang fell short to Bigdash in his initial pursuit for the ONE middleweight crown. This came via unanimous decision in January of that year.

But he got the jump on him in the rematch a few months later also by UD. N Sang garnered gold in June 2017 and evened up the series in the process.

In Bigdash’s last outing, he returned to the Circle after a hiatus of over three years. He bested Fan Rong at ONE: Winter Warriors II in the final frame of their fight earlier this month.

Aung La N Sang hints at early-2022

Some have posited that Reinier de Ridder could also be next.

But with N Sang going 0-2 in outings that weren’t super competitive, there likely aren’t people clamoring for this trilogy bout. Not until N Sang can build back a bit of a streak at least.

N Sang rebounded relatively recently from losing both of his ONE Championship titles inside the circle in a pair of prizefights to Reinier de Ridder.

The Sanford MMA product stopped the aforementioned Leandro Ataides via strikes in the first frame of their July contest at ONE: Battleground.

After a .500 record this year, the pride of Myanmar is looking at a clean slate looming calendar year that he aims to fully take advantage of.

Who do you think Aung La N Sang will end up fighting in early 2022?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cm2kY7S1vNQ

Dylan Bowker

I've been enamored with combat sports for as long as I can remember. I've hosted MMA talk shows Lights Out and Pure Fight Radio with featured guests like Jens Pulver, Roy Nelson, Miesha Tate, Mark Coleman, and more. I've been an MMA broadcaster for XFFC as well as BTC and have done play by play commentary on live pay per view on GFL as well as FITE TV. I've provided written, audio, and video content covering some of the biggest MMA promotions like Rumble in the Cage, Unified MMA, and King of the Cage. I've worked as a sports entertainment personality for over five years and given play-by-play or featured promotions of KSW, ONE Championship, TKO, and Invicta FC. My work can be found in the USA Today Sports affiliate MMA Torch, Cageside Press, MMA Sucka, and Liberty Multimedia.

See Full Bio