The 40-year-old retired in October following a second-round TKO victory over Zebaztian Kadestam at ONE Fight Night 36. He finished his 11-year ONE Championship run with 15 promotional victories, ranking third all-time behind Christian Lee and Rodtang Jitmuangnon (17 each).
Aung La N Sang joins Demetrious Johnson and Bibiano Fernandes as the third athlete inducted into ONE’s Hall of Fame.
He submitted Vitaly Bigdash at ONE: LIGHT OF A NATION in June 2017 to capture the ONE middleweight MMA world championship, becoming Myanmar’s first world champion in any sport.
The victory at Thuwunna Indoor Stadium in Yangon established him as the face of Myanmar’s emerging MMA scene and launched a championship run that would span multiple weight classes.
At ONE: QUEST FOR GOLD in February 2018, Aung La N Sang defeated Alexandre Machado to win the ONE light heavyweight MMA world championship, joining the promotion’s exclusive group of two-division rulers. He successfully defended both titles multiple times before losing the middleweight belt in 2019 and the light heavyweight title in 2021.
Aung La N Sang finished 13 of his 15 ONE Championship victories, an 87 percent rate that ranks among the promotion’s elite. His last 11 wins all came by stoppage, including nine by knockout.
Known early in his career for his grappling and submissions, he evolved into a powerful striker in his later years while maintaining the well-rounded skill set that made him a championship-level competitor across two divisions.
Aung La N Sang’s fifth-round TKO victory over Ken Hasegawa in June 2018 earned #1 ranking on ONE’s “100 Greatest Fights” list published that year. The light heavyweight title defense saw both athletes push to exhaustion before Aung La N Sang secured the stoppage in the final round, cementing his reputation as one of ONE’s premier main event attractions.
In 2018, Myanmar erected a bronze statue in Aung La N Sang’s hometown of Myitkyina, recognizing his status as the country’s first world champion and his impact on Myanmar’s sporting culture.
The Hall of Fame induction at ONE 173 closes a career that established Aung La N Sang as one of ONE Championship’s most successful and decorated athletes.
