Team Lakay head coach Mark Sangiao finally broke his silence on the apparent rivalry between his stable and Rene “The Challenger” Catalan ahead of their last World Title match for the year.
Catalan will be battling Sangiao’s prized pupil Joshua “The Passion” Pacio for the ONE Strawweight World Championship at ONE: Masters of Fate on November 8 at the Mall Of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines.
The soft-spoken mentor quashed talks of a rivalry between two of the top camps in the Philippines. He also believes the two fighters will exchange pleasantries after the match.
“There’s no bad blood,” Sangiao said.
“Maybe he has something, but for us, there really isn’t any bad blood. We’re a good sport, there’s no rivalry. I think they’ll hug it out right after.”
Trying to make sense of things, Sangiao believes Catalan may have felt differently during their days as wushu practitioners.
Sangiao and Catalan are both decorated wushu practitioners, and in the early 2000s there were only two places to practice wushu – Baguio and Iloilo.
“Back then, it would really be Baguio versus Iloilo because that’s the two strongest teams in Wushu,” Sangiao said.
“But that’s just it. There’s no rivalry. Sometimes, we’d just tease them that we’ll be seeing them in the finals lest it becomes another Baguio versus Baguio in the finals.”
Regardless of the magnitude of this match, the 39-year-old mentor treats this as any other World Title defense.
“For us, it’s just the same. Whether you’re a Filipino or not, wherever we’ll be defending [the World Title], we’ll come in prepared,” Sangiao said.
“That’s what I’ve been telling them, they should treat every match as if it’s their last.”
ONE Championship returns in just a few days with ONE: Dawn of Valor on October 25 at the Istora Senayan in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The main card will air live on ABS-CBN S+A at 9:30pm.
The Home Of Martial Arts then returns to the Mall Of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines, for ONE: Masters of Fate on November 8.
Get your tickets here and use the code ‘onewarrior’ for 20-percent discount.
Watch both shows for free by downloading the ONE Super App.
Read More From ONE Championship:
Pacio Vs. Catalan, Plus Folayang And Stamp Return At ONE: MASTERS OF FATE
Team Lakay Coach Mark Sangiao: ‘Pacio Can Be Double World Champ’
Rene Catalan Battled Through The Pain To Defeat Yoshitaka Naito
