A strong family and a desire to fight makes for a beautiful combination. Just ask “The Burmese Python” Aung La N Sang. N Sang was born in Burma (now, Myanmar) almost four decades ago, and he grew up in a large tight-knit family before coming to the United States for his college degree. This is also where he started his career in mixed martial arts.
N Sang made his MMA debut in 2005, while he was still in college. Upon graduating in 2007, he already had 10 pro fights under his belt. Seven years later, he would find himself making his ONE Championship debut with a 15-9-1 record with only three of those fights going the distance. Under the ONE banner, he is currently 15-4, and he was the promotion’s second ever two-division champ, having won and defended the middleweight and light heavyweight titles.
In late 2020, N Sang lost his middleweight title to Renier de Ridder, and, six months later, lost the light heavyweight strap to the same opponent. However, since then, he has finished four opponents, three of which is the first round, and his sole loss was a decision to Vitaly Bigdash, who he first won the title from in 2017. While currently riding a three-fight winning streak, and eyes on another title shot, he hasn’t fought since May 2023, when ONE made their U.S. debut in Colorado. That evening, he picked up his first submission win in almost five and a half years when he choked out Fan Rong. On Friday, Sep. 6, at ONE 168, The Burmese Python will be back in action against undefeated Shamil Erdogan.
“I want to fight a guy like him,” N Sang told Dan Kuhl of Combat Press. “I want to fight the tough young guy. He’s got a great skill set, undefeated, you know, so this kind of quite excites me.
“He’s a world medalist, you know, in wrestling. He’s a Dagestani wrestler. His wrestling is going to be good, and his striking is pretty good too. He beat his last two opponents with a body shot. His striking understanding is good, and he’s got power. But I’m different. I’m different. I hit different, and I can take shots a lot differently than all the guys. I’ll be dangerous all three rounds.”
Erdogan is a native of Dagestan and hails from Turkey. His wrestling pedigree is on point, but N Sang is a wily veteran who is tough as nails. And, it’s no wonder having grown up living in the same residence as up to 30 close relatives. That is enough to drive anyone to stand out. He and his wife are carrying on the family tradition. They already have three kids under the age of 10 with another son on the way.
“[The other kids] are very excited,” N Sang said. “You know, we’re very excited. They pray for that baby every night.
“I’m focused on my fight, so I have not been very helpful right now. Not being very helpful, but everything is where we need to be. You know, we got the diapers ready. We got the room ready. So, everything is ready.”
Not only is the N Sang household ready for the new baby boy, but the patriarch of the family is also ready for his next battle. Training out of Kill Cliff FC in Deerfield Beach, Fla., Henri Hooft and the rest of the coaching staff have their longtime team member ready to go on Friday night. They came out to Colorado once again about a week early to get acclimated to the altitude at Denver’s Ball Arena.
“Everything is on point,” said N Sang. “Weight is good. Cardio is good. My power is good. We’re ready.”
Not only is N Sang ready for Erdogan, but he has plans for the younger opponent, as he has made some disparaging comments about N Sang’s skills as a fighter. The Burmese Python plans to make him pay.
“I’m going to break him,” N Sang said. “I’m going to break him in three rounds. I’m going to break him. I’m going to take every shot he throws at me. I’m going to keep coming back up, and I’ll be in his face the whole fight. I’m going to break him. I want to take three rounds, because he said so many times that I’m an easy fight. I want to make it a point that I’m not, and I want to make a statement.”
N Sang had no plans to wait this long until his next fight, but he is happy to be back in Colorado. He will be looking to extend his winning streak to four, while handing Erdogan his first professional loss. This is a fight fans will want to tune into.
“If you like fights, this is going to be a good one,” N Sang said. “This is going to be a fight, and we’re going to put on a show. You know, if you’re a fan of fights, then you don’t want to miss this.”
ONE 168: Denver airs live and free to subscribers on Amazon Prime Video starting at 8 p.m. ET.