"I didn't know how to fight much back then" - ONE Championship's Aung La N Sang reflects on improvement ahead of trilogy match with Vitaly Bigdash

ONE Championship's Aung La N Sang is returning after a seven-month layoff this Friday, February 25, at ONE: Full Circle against his rival Vitaly Bigdash.

Five years after trading wins against each other, both fighters are looking for a definitive finish to their series.

Speaking in the ONE Championship faceoff interview, 'The Burmese Python' reflected on how far their fighting skills have gone since their back-to-back battles in 2017:

"I didn't know how to fight much back then. We're totally different fighters. [The fights] were epic, but we're totally different fighters [now], both of us. In the last five years, we have grown as martial artists. We have grown as human beings. I believe this Friday night's fight is going to be a totally different fight and it's going to be fun. The fans are going to love it and if we both do our jobs, we're going to put on an epic fight."

Bigdash, who has nothing but respect for his old foe, somewhat agreed:

"Yeah I watched his last fights. He did a great job. He seems like he's evolving. At the same time, I don't feel like he changed he style or improved somewhere with his techniques, but in general, I feel like he evolved."

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ONE Championship's Aung La N Sang regains lost momentum after stopping Leandro Ataides

Aung La N Sang arguably had the worst two-fight losing skid in ONE Championship history after Reinier De Ridder seized his middleweight and light heavyweight titles in back-to-back bouts.

However, N Sang has since rebounded from that horrific drop-off with a first-round stoppage win against Leandro Ataides in July 2021. He now looks to feed off that much-needed momentum against Vitaly Bigdash come Friday night:

"Every fight is different. Every fight is approached differently. But as a mixed martial artist, I try to put on a great show for the fans and to be able to do that last bout was great for me. I just want to stay active. I just want to improve and be bit better mixed martial artist."

Tune in to ONE: Full Circle on Friday to see how this trilogy will finally end after a five-year wait.