Jhanlo Mark Sangiao latest Team Lakay member in ONE Championship
LOCAL combat sports group Team Lakay has a new fighter in ONE Championship after Jhanlo Mark “The Machine” Sangiao recently signed with the promotion.
Son of Team Lakay founder and coach Mark, the younger Sangiao, 19, said he is excited to go for his mixed martial arts dream and make his family and team proud.
“I was shocked when my father gave me the contract. But when I saw the ONE Championship logo on the piece of paper, I read it and I was in disbelief,” said Mr. Sangiao.
“I can’t really explain what I was feeling. I was definitely excited. Since I was a kid, I had wanted to be here for so long. It has been my dream. I wanted to compete like all my [seniors] in the gym.”
Mr. Sangiao started making a name for himself in the local muay thai scene at the age of 14, winning in different tournaments.
Such success inspired him to work on his game with help from his father and other members of Team Lakay.
It is something he wants to extend with ONE Championship.
“I’m just grinding right now, training each day, and just getting myself ready both physically and mentally. My father always tells me to just be ready because my time will come, and here we are,” Mr. Sangiao said.
“There’s definitely pressure on me to do well, no escaping that. People will come up to me, asking me when I’m making my debut, so in my mind, that’s pressure in itself. People expect a lot, and I have to be at my best. But that kind of pressure makes me happy.”
ONE IN TOP 10
Meanwhile, in a release, ONE Championship said it was included in the top 10 global sports properties in the world in a report by data and market measurement firm Nielsen.
In the Nielsen report titled, “How the World’s Biggest Sports Properties Engaged Fans in 2020,” ONE is at #7 in total digital followers across Facebook, Instagram and YouTube at +113% — 28% higher than the next closest sports property in the Nielsen study.
In cumulative reach, ONE Championship ranks #3 behind the English Premier League (#1) and UEFA Champions League (#2), and ahead of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (#6), according to Nielsen. Cumulative reach measures the number of unique viewers who tune in to watch at least one minute of a TV broadcast.
As far as total video view, ONE ranks #4 overall, and in terms of engagement on Facebook #5.
ONE Championship also ranked #10 in 2020 broadcast hours despite the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, including a span of nearly three months without live global events. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo
