“I don’t really hate anybody that I fought” - Aung La N Sang talks about emotional balance before heading into a fight

Aung La N Sang, a former two-division ONE world champion, is a thinking fighter. He’s not the type to go all-out guns blazing into a fight without calculating his attack. However, according to the Florida-based Myanmar athlete, a little emotion when fighting goes a long way.

In a recent interview with ONE Championship, Aung La talked about the various emotions that run through his mind before a big fight. He also brought up how it affects his ability to execute when it matters most.

Aung La N Sang said:

“I don't like to be too riled up. I don't like to be too serene. I like to be kind of in the middle, a little hyped. Like when you have your first coffee in the morning when you're alert and awake. That's how I like to go.”

While it looks like he wants to rip an opponent to shreds by the time the cage door closes, Aung La says it’s all a balancing act and that he’s never truly disliked any of his foes.

“Not really. I don’t really hate anybody that I fought. I know all of them are trying to provide for their family.”

He continued:

“You don't want to fight too much out of emotion. Emotions can get in the way of your game plan and how you compete, you know, but you can't have negative emotions, either. Your emotions can't be emotions of weakness or emotions of fear. It has to be emotions of strength, and it has to be emotions of executing your game.”

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Aung La N Sang has a major tolerance for pain, vows to win next fight

Aung La N Sang has some of the most powerful and explosive hands in all of ONE Championship. However, he’s also fully aware that other threats exist besides him. Nevertheless, ‘The Burmese Python’ says he’s fully ready for whatever his next opponent brings to the table.

“Everyone has a lot of firepower, a lot of spectacular knockouts. I'm sure a lot of people have as much firepower as me. But I do believe I'm pretty tough. Like my head's pretty hard. I do believe that I have a really, really, high pain threshold, especially when I'm nearing a fight. When I'm like two weeks, one week away from a fight, I have a very, very high tolerance for pain,” said Aung La N Sang.

Aung La puts that tolerance for pain to the test this Friday. The 36-year-old takes on former adversary Vitaly Bigdash in a trilogy match at ONE: Full Circle, broadcasting live from the Singapore Indoor Stadium on February 25th.