When one rises, everyone rises
That has been the belief of famed Philippine camp Team Lakay all throughout the years.
Under the guidance of strategist Mark Sangiao, the Baguio-based stable has had a spectacular run in 2018.
Just a few days ago, Kevin Belingon (19-5) became Team Lakay’s fourth ONE World Champion after dominating two-division world champion Martin Nguyen to secure a date with reigning Bantamweight kingpin Bibiano Fernandes.
Geje Eustaquio (11-6) has turned himself from a contender to a world champion in a span of six months. After copping interim gold last January, the 29-year-old gave Team Lakay gold once again after outlasting Adriano Moraes to unify the ONE Featherweight World titles last June.
In the lightweight division, former world champion Eduard Folayang (20-6) brought himself back into contention after handing previously-unbeaten Russians Kharun Atlangeriev and Aziz Pakhrudinov their first tastes of defeat. His close friend and former ONE Featherweight World Champion Honorio Banario (13-6) has also remained unbeaten in ONE’s -77kg division, racking up five straight wins.
Twenty-two year old Joshua Pacio (15-2) has also thrown his name in the mix in the upper echelon of ONE’s strawweight division.
Then there are upstarts flyweight Danny Kingad (9-1), featherweight Edward Kelly (10-5), strawweight Gina Iniong (7-4), and strawweight April Osenio (2-4) – all of whom are also fighting in ONE Championship.
And who could forget Team Lakay OGs Dave Galera, Roldan Sancha-an, and Mark Eddiva – fighters who formerly fought in the UFC.
With this, the camp has caught the eye of ONE Chairman Chatri Sityodtong. Having known the fighters of Team Lakay for so long, he enthusiastically lauded the evolution the team has gone through over the years.
“A fan just asked me who I think is the best fight team in Asia. I have massive respect for all fight teams, but I believe there is no question that Team Lakay is now the number one fight team in Asia today.
“Despite a very modest budget and limited resources, Mark Sangiao has produced one of the best fight teams in the world. Every fighter on Team Lakay is a genuine monster with outstanding skills, unlimited cardio, and extraordinary gameness. Also, equally important, all of their fighters are constantly improving and upgrading their skills,” the amiable executive shared on his Faceook account.
“It is amazing to see how much Eduard Folayang, Kevin Belingon, Geje Eustaquio, Honorio Banario, Edward Kelly, Joshua Pacio, Danny Kingad, and the rest of the team have evolved over the years. Team Lakay is a scary learning machine.”
Besides their dominance either inside the cage or the squared circle, what impressed Sityodtong the most was how the fighters of Team Lakay exuded themselves outside of it.
Under Sangiao’s guidance, fighters from the camp have developed holistic characters – traits being spread by ONE Championship.
“I also love the fact that Team Lakay is a close-knit family that sticks together in good, bad, and ugly times. It reminds me of my favorite African proverb, ‘If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together’,” Sityodtong added.
“Above all though, Team Lakay fighters are true martial artists and wonderful human beings who live and exemplify the deep-rooted Asian values of integrity, humility, honor, respect, courage, discipline, and compassion. They are real-life superheroes.”
