ONE: Jhanlo Sangiao addresses being the ‘new face’ of Team Lakay

July 25, 2023 Times Europe

Team Lakay’s Jhanlo Sangiao. Photo from ONE

MANILA, Philippines—With several fighters flocking out of Team Lakay, someone would have to step up to the plate and be the new face of the MMA stable.

Jhanlo Sangiao, son of head trainer and Team Lakay founder Mark Sangiao, will be thankful to get the distinction of being the stable’s face but said he is more focused on working on himself.

“If they say that I’m the face of Team Lakay, I’d be thankful but I’m working on all of this to begin with,” said Sangiao in Filipino.

“I’m just training and enjoying this. I’ll just show what I can do inside the circle. That’s my real goal.”

Sporting an undefeated record after three matches in ONE Fighting Championship, Sangiao is undoubtedly one of the fastest-rising bantamweights in the MMA scene.

He has a chance to prove his worth a bit more when he faces Enkh Orgil-Baatarkhuu next month in ONE Fight Night 13: Allazov vs. Grigorian at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium, Bangkok.

Even his own father Mark is seeing the uprising of his son which is beneficial for Team Lakay in the long run, taking into consideration the exodus of Filipino fighters from the stable.

“Our next generation of Team Lakay fighters are doing okay for the most part. I can see them working hard and they’re doing their training every day. That’s just how I see it. They train hard and the attendance has been solid,” he said.

With just a few weeks left before his fight against Baatarkhuu, Sangiao made a fearless guarantee that his work outside of the Circle will show up big come show time.

“As for me, I’ll just show what I can do inside the Circle. Panalo ‘to. (This will be a win.)”