Aung La Nsang
Aung La Nsang (; born on May 21, 1985) is a Burmese–American mixed martial artist of ethnic Kachin descent currently signed to ONE Championship, competing in both the Middleweight and Light heavyweight divisions. He is a former ONE Middleweight World Champion and ONE Light Heavyweight World Champion. He made his MMA debut in 2005 and would go on to become a major star in his native Myanmar after signing with ONE Championship and winning two titles with the organization. He is also one of the few Myanmar citizens with an international profile, given the country only began  opening up to the outside world over the last decade. Aung La was the subject of unprecedented national attention in the lead-up to the fight with Russia's then-middleweight champion Vitaly Bigdash, with billboards across Yangon featuring massive portraits of the two fighters. Being a national icon of Myanmar, his own bronze statue erected in 2018 at the Kachin National Manau Park in his hometown of Myitkyina. During the opening ceremony of the statue a huge crowd of thousands fans gathered. Early life and education. Aung La was born in Myitkyina, Kachin State, Myanmar to Christian Kachin parents  Nsang Tu Awng, a jewellery trader, and his wife Shadan Nang Bu. He is the third son of five siblings. He attended high school at International School Yangon. In 2004, he moved to the United States to study Agriculture Science at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan. He graduated in 2007 and worked as a migratory beekeeper while keeping up his MMA training. Mixed martial arts career. Early career. Aung La made his professional debut in 2005, and soon built a reputation for his outstanding submission skills, earning himself the nickname of The Burmese Python. Early in his career, Aung  La fought for King of the Cage and Ring of Combat as well as other, smaller promotions. However, his career got off to a slow start, with Aung La losing his first fight. At the age of 27, he became a social media sensation when footage of him knocking out Jason Louck at CFFC 17 went viral in the Kachin State. After the fight, he posed with a Kachin flag. ONE Championship. He made his ONE Championship debut in June 2014 and has headlined multiple shows at the Thuwunna Stadium in Yangon since 2016. After signing with ONE in 2014 , Aung La Nsang returned to his home country of Myanmar two years later at , winning his bout to become a national hero. On March 18, 2016, he fought in Yangon for the first time, beating Mohamed Ali by submission. 2017: ONE Middleweight Champion. On January 14, 2017, Aung La Nsang challenged Vitaly Bigdash for the ONE Middleweight World Championship at . He lost the fight via unanimous decision. On June 30, 2017, he became Myanmar's first ever world champion in any mainstream sport, beating Vitaly Bigdash at to win the ONE Middleweight World Championship. On November 3, 2017, Aung La  Nsang faced Alain Ngalani at in the first openweight bout in ONE Championship history, winning by submission. Later that year he met with State Counsellor of Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi to discuss the issues in the Kachin State. 2018: Title defenses & ONE Light Heavyweight Champion. On February 23, 2018, he stopped Alexandre Machado at in Yangon to win the ONE Light Heavyweight World Championship to become only the second fighter, after Martin Nguyen, to win ONE Championship titles in two divisions. On June 29, 2018, Aung La Nsang defended the ONE Middleweight title for the first time against Ken  Hasegawa at in Yangon in what is now considered one of the greatest title fights in ONE Championship history. He defeated Hasegawa by TKO in the fifth round to retain the title. On October 26, 2018, he beat Mohammad Karaki by TKO via punches at in Yangon to retain the ONE Middleweight title. 2019: Title defenses. On March 31, 2019, he defended his title against Ken Hasegawa for a second time at in Tokyo, retaining his ONE Middleweight title via technical knockout. After his title defense against Hasegawa, Aung La signed a new ten-fight contract with ONE Championship. Aung  La made his first defense of the ONE Light Heavyweight World Championship against Brandon Vera at on October 13, 2019. During the match, Aung La connected on a spinning back elbow that sent Vera stumbling and followed it through with punches. Aung La defeated Vera by technical knockout in the second round and successfully defended the ONE Light Heavyweight title. 2020: Losing the Middleweight Championship. Aung La Nsang was next expected to defend his ONE Middleweight World Championship against Reinier de Ridder , event and date to be determined. However, de Ridder was later pulled from the bout. Aung La will  now face former middleweight champion Vitaly Bigdash for a third time at ONE Infinity 1 on April 10, 2020. However, their title fight was canceled due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports. On September 9, 2020, it was revealed that Aung La would be defending his ONE Middleweight World Championship against Reinier de Ridder once again at on October 30, 2020. On October 30, 2020, Aung La lost to de Ridder by submission in the first round, ending his reign as ONE Middleweight World Champion. 2021: Losing the Light Heavyweight Championship. Aung La was expected to defend  the ONE Light Heavyweight Championship against Vitaly Bigdash in a trilogy bout at ONE on TNT 4 on April 28, 2021. After Vitaly Bigdash tested positive for COVID-19, Reinier de Ridder took his place. He lost the fight and the belt by unanimous decision. Aung La faced former ONE Middleweight title contender Leandro Ataides at on July 30, 2021. He won the bout via knockout in the first round. 2022: Post-championship run. Aung La is scheduled to face former ONE Middleweight Champion Vitaly Bigdash in a trilogy fight at on February 25, 2022. He lost by unanimous decision. Honored  by Tatmadaw. In July 2018, Commander-in-Chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing issued an official statement of congratulations, claiming the ethnic Kachin fighter embodies the indomitable spirit of Myanmar, the pride of the nation. Aung La was invited to the Ministry of Defence and presented with a cash award as a token of appreciation and recognition by representatives of all three branches of the Myanmar armed forces. On February 24, 2018, Commander-in-Chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing and Tatmadaw (army, navy, air force) officials honored to Aung La Nsang. On behalf of the Tatmadaw Commander-in-Chief , Yangon Command Commander Maj-Gen Thet Pone presented Aung La Nsang with a Myanmar Ks 10 million cash prize, as well as a certificate of honor sent by the Tatmadaw Commander-in-Chief, at an event held at the Rose Garden Hotel in Yangon. Charity work. Since becoming a superstar in his native land via his ONE Championship success, Aung La has committed himself to several charity projects, using his reach and fame to try and help the people of Myanmar. In particular, he has given his backing to educational charities such as "Street School Initiative" and Global Citizen, as  well as other causes in his native Kachin state. Aung La is a passionate advocate for Myanmar's wildlife and he has been a big supporter of Voices for momos, a campaign against illegal wildlife trade, since its launch in November 2017. On 9 November 2018, Aung La was appointed as ambassador of Fighting Wildlife Crime by World Wide Fund for Nature, Myanmar.