"It's a cool little legacy thing" - Gurdarshan Mangat on the Fairtex name and his Yodkaikaew win at ONE 158 

Gurdarshan Mangat recently collected his 17th career win in MMA and his latest one is something that he can fondly look back on in the years to come.

‘Saint Lion’ outclassed Yodkaikaew Fairtex at ONE 158 to claim a split decision victory over the Thai striker. While he was a bit surprised that one judge favored Yodkaikaew, the fact remains that it will go down as a victory on his record.

Speaking to SCMP MMA after the bout, Mangat was asked where he ranks his win against Yodkaikaew in all his wins so far.

Gurdarshan Mangat said:

“It’s always the one that happens [that’s] the best one, right, because you’re building up your record. For me, there was something special about beating somebody with the name Fairtex. We all know how famous that name is, so when Sherdog gets updated [with] that W next to Fairtex’s name, it’s cool. It’s a cool legacy thing that I’ll be able to look back at. He’s a true Muay Thai warrior, and I was able to beat him in ONE over here [in Singapore]. So it ranks as the best, and the next one will be even better.”

Catch the full interview below:

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Gurdarshan Mangat hopes to honor Sidhu Moose Wala with his win

Gurdarshan Mangat collected the second of back-to-back wins and improved his ONE Championship record to 4-1. While he is focused on climbing the flyweight rankings, the Canadian-Indian hopes that his win could provide a bit of light during this dark time for India.

He said:

“Of course, it feels amazing. It’s all the hard work - I put a lot of work into these fights, especially because I carry a lot on my shoulders of representing my people. This week was a heavy week for my community. We had the passing of a very influential idol, musician. All of India has been mourning, all over North America, all over the world, so I wanted to give them something to celebrate."

The influential idol he referred to was Sidhu Moose Wala, a prominent rapper who recently entered the Indian political system hoping to transform it as the voice to the common people.

Mangat even used Moose Wala’s music as his entrance music.

“It’s been a tough week for the community - it still is - and hopefully give them something when they heard that music hit the speakers today,” he said.