Examining ONE Championship Legend’s Thrilling Highlights After Retirement

With that important caveat out of the way, there’s no time like the present to get going.

Aung La N Sang’s Exciting Moments: Aung La N Sang Bursts Onto Scene in Bellator

For our first stop on our look back at some of this legend’s thrilling highlights, we travel back in time to May of 2012. By that point, Aung La N Sang was already boasting a 12-8 record and his 21st career MMA appearance was booked for the late Bellator MMA.

On May 12, 2012, Aung La N Sang drew the assignment of Jesus Martinez in Bellator 68. In just 36 blistering seconds, he finished Martinez with a barrage of punches, netting him win number 13 in his career.

The fight would be La N Sang’s only career appearance under the Bellator MMA banner, with a tenure in Cage Fury Fighting Championships featuring a 2-1 record with one no-contest.

Aung La N Sang’s Exciting Moments: Achieving Middleweight Championship Status in ONE

After his stint in Cage Fury wrapped up in the fall of 2013, La N Sang joined the active roster of ONE Championship. It was in ONE that his career began to take off. Fast-forwarding to the summer of 2017, he sought revenge against Vitaly Bigdash for the latter handing him a defeat in their first fight that winter.

At the end of June that year, the rematch was on in ONE Championship: Light of a Nation in Myanmar. At stake: The ONE MMA Middleweight (205 lbs) Championship. Chapter one in this story was written with Bigdash winning by unanimous decision. La N Sang made history when he and Bigdash ran the fight back after the summer solstice.

While the rematch went the advertised distance, Aung La N Sang achieved revenge and became the first MMA champion from Myanmar in a “home game” versus his rival. Bigdash would, however, get the upper hand by taking the trilogy bout to end the rivalry in 2022. There are still more of Aung La N Sang’s exciting moments to get to, so let’s keep going.

Aung La N Sang’s Exciting Moments: Attaining Double-Champ Status

As the calendar turned to 2018, Aung La N Sang’s attention turned to his pursuit of the ONE Light Heavyweight (225 lbs) MMA Championship, then vacant in the wake of Roger Gracie’s 2017 retirement from competition.

For the vacant belt, he versed Alexandre Machado in ONE Championship: Quest For Gold in his home country of Myanmar. That night, he became a two-division champion in the sport, scoring a first-round knockout inside the opening minute of the fight.

Aung La N Sang would only make one successful defense of the promotion’s light heavyweight title. As of 2025, he remains the only ONE Light Heavyweight MMA Champion to defend the title. He’d make three defenses of the middleweight belt before ending his career. There’s still one more of Aung La N Sang’s exciting moments that we haven’t covered yet.

Aung La N Sang’s Exciting Moments: An Electrifying Finale

In 2025, Aung La N Sang’s exciting moments were down to their last when he made his intentions known that he’d be retiring from active competition after ONE Fight Night 36’s co-main event. For his final walk to the ring, he’d be facing off against Zebaztian Kadestam.

La N Sang took Kadestam to the second round of the evening’s co-main event, but he finished him off with a flurry of strikes to send himself off in fine feather. To cap his career, he received a $50,000 (USD) post-fight bonus and an enshrinement into the ONE Championship Hall of Fame at ONE 173 in November of 2025.

Final Thoughts

Aung La N Sang’s exciting moments could fill a documentary feature about his career. From the opening vanity plates right to the ending credits of the film, it would make for gripping cinema.

Which of Aung La N Sang’s exciting moments will you remember the most?