As ONE rolls out live events, Team Lakay remains ready

Team Lakay head coach Mark Sangiao said his team is ready if one of his athletes gets called to compete in ONE Championship. 

The Home Of Martial Arts successfully held ONE: No Surrender in Bangkok, Thailand, on July 31, marking their first live event since ONE: King of the Jungle in February.

Nine more events are set to take place from August to October, starting with ONE: No Surrender II and ONE: No Surrender III — and the soft-spoken mentor is hopeful his team will take part.

“I am happy for ONE. I am really happy for the athletes of ONE and of course the management, seeing that they are back. Of course, it’s a big boost to their business as well,” Sangiao said.

“On our part, we’re just waiting for events to be held in the Philippines. Or if they can fly foreign athletes like us elsewhere, we’d gladly take it.”

Sangiao said that they can travel out of the country if needed, although they have to meet the requirements of the Games And Amusement Board (GAB).

“To be clear, yes, we can fly out. We just have to get the necessary requirements and submit it to our government so we can fly out,” he said.

Team Lakay continues its daily grind at its central gym, but the challenge for them is adjusting to restrictions with Baguio City’s proactive approach to combating COVID-19.

“The problem here is sometimes there are still lockdowns in certain areas in Baguio,” Sangiao said.

“Whenever a case comes up, an area is automatically locked down, so if one of my athletes in that area, they really can’t go out.”

The 41-year-old understands that those are the cards he’s been dealt, and that they are lucky to be training amid stringent restrictions.

As the father figure of the team, he is reminding his wards of the protocols they have to follow and the importance of sticking to just essential travel.

“We require all our fighters now to train everyday for as long as there are no restrictions with them, but there are also protocols that we have to follow,” Sangiao said.

“As much as possible, I also advise them to have a singular route, like home-gym and gym-home, to avoid contracting the virus. I want to make sure my athletes stay at home as much as possible and only go out when really needed.”