By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
One of the best Filipino mixed martial arts (MMA) prospects had just been offered a big fight in the upcoming ONE Fighting Championship Fight Night 13 on August 4, 2023.
Jhanlo Sangiao, the son of Team Lakay’s chief mentor and founder, head coach Mark Sangiao, will be fighting again under the bright lights of ONE FC and is tasked to take down veteran fighter Eknh Orgil Baatarkhuu.
The 20-year-old sensation is coming off an impressive knee-bar submission victory over Matias Farinelli last April 21, 2023, and is seeking to extend his undefeated streak in the flyweight division.
However, Sangiao will be going up against a more experienced fighter in Baatarkhuu, a 34-year-old bruiser who currently holds a decent win-loss record when matched up against Filipinos.
The Mongolian striker carries a 9-2 record in ONE FC and is also riding on an eight-fight winning streak inside the cage.
Baatarkhuu is yet to taste a single defeat in five years and is in the best shape of his professional MMA career since losing to Tsogookhuu Amarsanaa last October 27, 2018.
This will be an interesting matchup for the young Pinoy as the Mongolian possesses a deep bag of offensive and defensive tricks inside the fighting ring.
Baatarkhuu recently showed an improved ground defense and has been moving his head well when faced against tougher boxing specialist.
On the other hand, Sangiao displayed a flawless ground game despite his young age and won five of his six fights via submission.
Four wins were via a rear-naked choke, one via a knee-bar submission, and his debut win in ONE featured a nasty TKO win over Danilo Dangalan last May 2018.
Can Sangiao score a huge win over the Mongolian star and boost his chances of competing for the championship title in the flyweight division?
