It’s Jean Claude Saclag’s turn to carry the flag for the Philippines and Team Lakay into ONE Championship’s proving ground after over a decade of toiling for the national team in kickboxing and wushu.
The dynamic striker makes his long-awaited ONE debut against Lee Jun Young in a flyweight MMA bout at ONE Friday Fights 78 live from Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, on September 6.
Saclag has already made a name for himself with local fight fans, owning three Southeast Asian Games gold medals for kickboxing, a Wushu World Cup gold medal, and an Asian Games silver medal for wushu sanda.
Now he wants to make the county proud in the world of MMA when he focuses on the all-encompassing sport in the weekly ONE Friday Fights series, the ultimate avenue for on-the-rise fighters from around the world.
He won’t have it easy against “The Bad Guy” though.
There’s a reason for Lee’s fearsome nickname, as after a solid amateur career, he’s had quite a start to his professional MMA salvo.
He comes in with a 5-1 record and a left hook that appears to be the South Korean’s go-to weapon.
With Saclag favoring the striking style, expect this match to entertain the red-hot Lumpinee Stadium crowd, who always appreciate a good scrap.
Saclag joins Carlos Alvarez on the ONE Friday Fights circuit as they look to follow in the footsteps of teammate Carlo Bumina-ang, who became the first Filipino fighter to win a US$100,000 contract in the weekly series.
The 29-year-old also gets a chance to regain the momentum of Team Lakay after a forgettable past month, with Bumina-ang falling in his official ONE Championship against Enkh-Orgil Baatarkhuu and Estrada Dongga-as being finished by Pham Van Nam at ONE Friday Fights 76.
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