Aung La N Sang recently signed a lucrative new contract with ONE Championship, and believes it will be the last he signs as a professional mixed martial artist.
"It's a big contract, and it's going to be good for both parties," the 39-year-old middleweight told The Sporting News. "It's not a short contract, so probably the last contract I sign.
"It's good to be working with the company I started with, and be in the promotion where I started making a name for myself.
"We can finish this career strong."
Aung La N Sang is a former two-division MMA champion in ONE. "The Burmese Python" has been with the promotion since 2014, and has headlined some of the biggest shows in its history — including several in his native Myanmar. The final chapter of his impressive career will begin when he takes on Turkiye's Shamil Erdogan in the first fight of his new deal. The bout will feature on the main card of Saturday's ONE 168 card in Denver, the Singaporean promotion's second event on US soil after a thrilling debut in the same city in May, 2023.
Aung La N Sang, who was born in Myanmar but has spent most of his life living in the US, submitted Fan Rong on last year's Denver card. He is excited to be competing on his home soil again, and aims to give the American fans inside the Ball Arena another finish.
"The reception I got from the fans in America and the Burmese fans in America [last year], it's amazing, it's such an honor," he said. "That's why I'm working really hard for this fight, training hard for this fight, making sure I'm on point and I'm gonna be able to put on the best performance yet."
Aung La N Sang knows beating "a beast" like Erdogan will be a tall order. The Turkish wrestling specialist is undefeated through nine pro fights, and debuted in ONE with a body kick stoppage of Fan last year.
He has said he considers Aung La N Sang an easy fight.
The Burmese-American veteran assures he is "well prepared" to give his opponent a rude awakening.
"I don't think I'm an easy fight for any middleweight in the world," he said. "We'll find out on September 6.
"I'm gonna look to finish him in every second of that fight."
Aung La N Sang went a tough 1-3 from 2020 to 2022, losing both his titles in that stretch. He has since rebounded from that skid with three straight finishes — clubbing knockouts of Yushin Okami and Gilberto Galvao, and his submission win over Fan.
If he beats Erdogan, he'll be hard to deny as the top contender for a shot at the middleweight title, now the property of three-division champion Anatoly Malykhin.
Another title reign would be the perfect way for the near 50-fight veteran to cap off his career — and it's certainly not impossible — but he refuses to put the cart before the horse.
"[The title] means nothing to me right now," he said. "Only Shamil matters."
"I can't say nothing [about a title shot] if I can't finish Shamil."
