‘I want both titles and nothing is going to stop me’ – One Championship super bout rematch in the works after Hong Kong’s Ngalani wins in Thailand
The ‘Panther’ looks ahead to a busy year after securing his fourth MMA victory in Bangkok over the weekend
“I spoke to the One directors just after my fight and they had already planned for me to take on Aung La N Sang for a title at the end of the year,” said the 42-year-old Cameroonian (professional MMA record 4-4), who defeated Mongolia’s Tur-Ochir Ariunbold (1-1) via split decision after three rounds.
The Panther was caught by the Ariunbold’s straight right early in the first round – after which he shook his head – but recovered and continued to do damage with his legs. It was a kick-heavy affair even by Ngalani’s standards.
“I felt it but I recovered very quickly,” he said. “I hurt my hand in training so I was really cautious about punching. I expected to punch more than I needed to. My hands are still swollen right now.”
Having won his first fight of the new year – the veteran’s only fight since his loss to middleweight champion La N Sang (22-10, one no contest) – Ngalani can turn his attention to the championship belts. And boy he is hungry.
Home favourite La N Sang forced Ngalani to tap via guillotine choke in the first round of a cross-weight super bout in Yangon, Myanmar last November. The Panther has continued to brush up his ground game so as to not give La N Sang the same openings when the increasingly likely rematch beckons.