Team Lakay head coach Mark Sangiao is unfazed despite a loaded schedule that is seeing him prepare seven fighters for the end of this year.
Sangiao is already in Singapore right now with fifth-ranked bantamweight contender Stephen “The Sniper” Loman and former ONE Bantamweight World champion Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon as they gear-up for separate foes at ONE Fight Night 4 this Saturday, Nov. 19.
After that event, Sangiao will fly back to Manila to focus on five others as Joshua Pacio defends his ONE Strawweight world title against Jarred Brooks in the main event of ONE 164 on 3 Dec. at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Pacio will be joined by former ONE Flyweight World champion Geje Eustaquio, Jeremy Pacatiw, and Jenelyn Olsim, while former ONE Lightweight World champion Eduard Folayang will be competing at ONE Fight Night 5 on that morning.
“We’re excited. I feel like we’re ready for situations like this,” Sangiao said.
“I’m used to it already. We’ve been doing this for the longest time, we’ve experienced being this busy before, so we’re very excited.”
The soft-spoken mentor admitted to feeling nervous heading into this busy stretch, especially with the magnitude that some of the fights have – from Pacio’s World Title defense to Loman’s possible star-making matchup.
But the 43-year-old is using that as motivation to be on his A-game when training his fighters for their respective bouts.
“Who says pressure is not good? We are taking the pressure as a strong force [to] push us to train well today and train better tomorrow,” Sangiao said.
It can get tiring, it can get overwhelming, and the pressure might be tough to contain, but for Sangiao, it’s all part of the sport.
“Overwhelmed? Yes I am,” he said. “My hands sweat every time I see the fight matches for Singapore this November and December in Manila. But we are warriors from the mountains, we take every fight as a hunting game.”
Meanwhile, tickets for ONE 164: Pacio vs. Brooks at the Mall of Asia Arena on 3 December are already available at https://smtickets.com/events/view/11439.
Also, catch “Globe Presents ONE Warrior Series Philippines” every Sunday night on GTV, the ONE Super App, and watch.onefc.com. Weekly replays air on Tap Go, ONE Championship Philippines Facebook, and ONE Championship’s official YouTube channel.
