Aung La N Sang vs. Brandon Vera 2
Schiavello: “Aung La N Sang stepping up to heavyweight to take on Brandon Vera and having a go at Vera’s heavyweight title. I’d love to see that.
“Aung La is the biggest star in ONE Championship, in my opinion. It’s hard to comprehend in the U.S. how these fighters are received over here. When you go to Myanmar, it’s another planet. The level of fame this guy enjoys would make Conor McGregor look like he has 100 followers in Ireland. It’s huge.
“They’ve erected statues to him. You go to Myanmar and everybody, from Buddhist nuns to young boys playing soccer in the street, to beggars, to people working in restaurants, officials in the airport, the military, to Myanmar’s most famous woman, Aung San Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize. Even she invites him to her house for receptions. Everyone knows who he is.
“You say his name, it opens doors for you. When I had visa problems getting into Myanmar because I hadn’t done my visa correctly and they didn’t want to let me in for a show in Yangon, I dropped Aung La’s name, and as soon as I dropped his name, the gates opened up. When they knew I was from ONE Championship, I was the commentator and I knew Aung La N Sang, that was it. The gates opened up. He’s huge, he gets mobbed over there, it’s massive. You can’t comprehend.
“So for him to take on Vera and maybe even do that in Myanmar, that would be huge.”
Next up: A dynamite matchup for “The Underground King” and a trilogy fight for the ages