“He always brings it too, so it should be fun” -Aung La Nsang on potential Yushin Okami fight

Former ONE Championship middleweight and light heavyweight world champion ‘The Burmese Python’ Aung La Nsang, only wants fun fights in the latter half of his career. Which is why he is so heavily lobbying for a potential showdown with Japanese legend Yushin ‘Thunder’ Okami.

Okami called out the former ONE champ-champ after the latter’s most recent victory over Brazil’s Leandro Ataides last July. Ever since then, the fight has been on Nsang’s mind.

Speaking to the South China Morning Post in a recent interview, Aung La Nsang had this to say about the potential middleweight clash:

“You know me, I’m down for any scrap. Yushin Okami called me out after my fight so I think it would be a great fight. He’s somebody that I used to watch. If you got [two of the best] Asian middleweights, let’s put on a show. I’m always down for it, it’s really up to ONE Championship and the fans.”

Nsang captured the ONE middleweight world title in July 2017. He then added the light heavyweight strap to his mantle in 2018, sparking an incredible run through the ranks.

In 2020, however, Aung La Nsang fell to the Netherlands’ Reinier de Ridder, surrendering his middleweight strap. Months later, De Ridder defeated him once again in a rematch at light heavyweight to take his belt in that division.

Since then, Nsang has been on the comeback trail. He defeated the aforementioned Ataides earlier this year and is now looking to string together a handful of solid victories on his way back to world title contention.

But while Nsang feels Okami isn’t as much of a threat as someone like De Ridder, he also acknowledges that the Japanese star possesses great name value which will aid his rise back to the top.

Nsang talked further about what makes Okami a difficult matchup:

“I don’t want to disrespect Okami. He’s not De Ridder, but I mean that kind of build gives me trouble, especially the longer grapplers. They do give me trouble even in training...you know, taller guys that won’t really strike with you but will take you down. I mean they would strike, my training partners would strike too, but that’s the body type that I struggle with so it would be a great matchup and it would be exciting, man. We always put on exciting fights. Yushin Okami always brings it too, so it should be fun.”

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Aung La Nsang determined to recapture lost glory, win back belts

Despite losing both his world titles to De Ridder, Aung La Nsang is confident he can fight his way back into title contention, and that it will only take a few solid performances to throw his name back into the mix.

If Nsang can beat Okami, it will certainly go a long way. However, the 36-year-old ‘Burmese Python’ is more concerned with putting on a show for the fans.

“As a fan of this sport, it’s going to be cool to have a name like Yushin Okami in your resume. I’ve been a fan of his. I always root for him so if we can throw it down and put on an exciting matchup for the fans, you know, let’s do it. Just putting on exciting matchups but the belt is my goal, but I don’t care if I have to fight for the belt next. I don’t care if it’s two or three fights from now. I just want to prove myself and continue to grow as a mixed martial artist and be a good athlete that fans want to watch.”

For Aung La Nsang, the path back to the title goes through Yushin Okami. It’s certainly an interesting matchup from all perspectives.