(From Left to Right) Edward Kelly, April Osenio, Danny Kingad, Geje Eustaquio, Honorio Banario, and Eduard Folayang show off their skills at the Burnham Park Athletic Bowl. Folayang is fighting to claim the light weight title of defending champion Shinya Aoki on November 11 in the One Championship event at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. The rest of the team are competing in the One Championship event scheduled in Manila on December 2. INQUIRER Photo/EV ESPIRITU @eespirituINQ
LA TRINIDAD – Confidence brings the best out of the fighters, and that’s exactly the way Team Lakay has fostered in its camp.
And the results speak for themselves as Team Lakay, led by founder and coach Mark Sangiao, has proven time and again its status as an elite mixed martial arts team in the country.
The Benguet crew has come a long way since joining the ONE Championship in 2011, and although there were a handful of bumps and bruises along the way, they have found the right mix to finally compete and be one of the Asia’s best fighters.
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“Based sa experiences at mga losses ng fighters namin, doon namin kinukuha yung mga lessons, kung saan talaga kami kailangang mag-improve,” said Sangiao.
And on December 2, Team Lakay gets another chance showcase their wares anew as five fighters enter the cage at ONE Championship: Age of Domination at Mall of Asia Arena.
Former ONE Featherweight Champion Honorio Banario banner the crew, together with Geje Eustaquio, Edward Kelly, Danny Kingad, and April Osenio.
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Back at ONE Championship: Global Rivals in May, five fighters from Team Lakay all won their matches in front of the adoring Manila crowd. That could be considered as the highest point for the stable, with its fighters winning 13 out of their 15 matches this year.
Banario (10-6) shared that Team Lakay’s recent success should be attributed to the stringent training the fighters undergo in preparation for the big fights.
“Parang yung investment namin sa training, nagpe-payoff na,” said the 27-year-old, who will face Indian striker Radjinder Singh Meena in December. “Because we train for a long time, yung confidence namin going to the fight is unbreakable na ngayon.”
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Osenio, who competes in the women’s atomweight division, shares the same sentiment.
“Puspusan naman ang training namin kaya confident kami na maiuuwi namin yung panalo,” she said.
For Sangiao, it’s just a matter of developing his fighters’ skills and putting them in the same level as the other world-class athletes.
“Hindi naman kami tumitigil sa pag-improve sa mga skills ng mga atleta namin,” he said.
And Sangiao truly hopes to repeat that unscathed feat once again this December.
“Sana makuha ulit namin yung five wins from our fighters,” he said. “Lahat naman ng laban, talagang pinaghahandaan namin kaya sana 5-0 ulit.”