ONE Championship: Aung La N Sang warns Reinier De Ridder ‘I’m just a different animal’
- ‘Burmese Python’ ramps up training at Sanford MMA in Florida with official announcement imminent for title fight
- Middleweight champ has been out of action for a year, and he promises ‘I’ve been developing my game, you will see a big difference’
Reinier De Ridder said he’d have to submit Aung La N Sang in their upcoming ONE Championship title fight, because “nobody’s knocking that guy out”.
On that they can agree, but “The Burmese Python” (26-10) warned the undefeated “Dutch Knight” (12-0) that he’s about to face a huge step up in competition in the ONE circle.
“Yeah, I mean he’s right – he’s not gonna knock me out,” N Sang told SCMP MMA. “His strong suit is BJJ [Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu], so I’m doing a lot of preparation for that as well.
“Certain opponents I thought were gonna give him trouble in ONE Championship but he finds certain ways to win. He fought Gilberto Galvao, a black belt, I thought he had a tough test at hand but he knocked the guy out. Leandro Ataides, another BJJ black belt … he finds ways to win. You gotta respect that. He’s undefeated, he’s confident. But I’m just a different animal.”
“We have some amazing guys,” added N Sang, who is in training camp at Sanford MMA in Florida. “One of them just today Derek Brunson [of the UFC] came down from his house in North Carolina. They’re all southpaws, my opponent is also a southpaw so they’re great training partners. And with Derek he’s mimicking the takedowns for me, so it’s been great.”