5 Myanmar Heroes To Watch Out For At ONE: HERO’S DREAM

ONE Middleweight World Champion Aung La N Sang may be the first Myanmar-born World Champion and the country’s most internationally-renowned martial artist, but the nation is producing several talents who are starting to follow in his massive footsteps.

As ONE Championship prepares to stage ONE: HERO’S DREAM at Yangon’s Thuwunna Indoor Stadium on Friday, 3 November, there are five Myanmar athletes who will be entertaining the world with their lethwei skills, and taking a pivotal step closer to their world title dreams.

Phoe Thaw

Phoe “Bushido” Thaw (4-0) could very well be the next breakout star in Myanmar’s budding martial arts scene. In fact, he has already caught the attention of fellow countryman Aung La N Sang.

The 32-year-old, who earned a Bachelor of Science in engineering from the University of Dagon, has a lethwei background and compiled an undefeated record of 3-0-2 in the striking discipline. But he has expanded upon his formidable striking in recent years with Kyokushin karate and Aikido, carrying those skills over to ONE Championship.

Ever since making his debut in July 2015, he has ripped through the competition. He has demonstrated his crisp striking, in addition to an evolving grappling and submission game. That has led the undefeated featherweight to four consecutive first-round TKO stoppages.

Phoe Thaw’s shining moment, however, was when he won back-to-back contests last October to capture the ONE Myanmar Featherweight Tournament 2016 Championship. “Bushido” hopes to continue his string of impressive victories on Friday, 3 November, when he clashes with ONE Myanmar Lightweight Tournament 2015 Finalist Saw Ba Oo.

Saw Ba Oo

Initially, Saw Ba Oo (2-1) had to keep his martial arts pursuits a secret. The 28-year-old featherweight from Hpa-An, the capital of Myanmar’s Kayin State, wanted to train and compete in the country’s national style of lethwei. His parents, however, disapproved. They did not want their son to get hurt.

Nonetheless, Saw Ba Oo quietly pursued his passion and compiled a 16-4-19 record in lethwei competition. Once he got some success on his side, he shared the secret with his parents, and quickly got their approval.

In July 2015, he made his ONE debut, winning his first bout against Dawna Aung, but losing to Thway Thit Aung in the ONE Myanmar Featherweight Tournament 2015 final. He got back on the winning track in October 2016 by delivering a TKO to Kyal Sin Phyo, and enters his upcoming tilt against Phoe Thaw with momentum.

Tha Pyay Nyo

Tha Pyay Nyo (4-0) has been an absolute buzzsaw in seemingly every combat sport he has competed in. A native of Hpa-An, he initially took up lethwei at the age of 16 for self-defense. But what started out as a simple quest to learn basic techniques has transformed into an astonishing career.

Tha Pyay Nyo has recorded a 44-2-10 record in lethwei, and reached the discipline’s pinnacle by winning the prestigious Gold Belt. That flawless striking translated immediately to ONE Championship. In his debut, he won two straight matches to capture the ONE Myanmar Featherweight Tournament 2015 Championship.

He followed that up with two additional wins, the most recent being a 16-second knockout of Htet Aung Oo at ONE: LIGHT OF A NATION this past June. Now armed with a quartet of first-round knockouts, the 26-year-old Adventure Club product draws 25-year-old Indian Wushu Champion Himanshu Kaushik (4-1) at the upcoming Yangon show.

Saw Min Min

Saw Min Min (2-0) may be the youngest Myanmar athlete competing in the organization, but he may hold the brightest future.

The 18-year-old from the country’s coastal Mon State is a lethal striker by nature, as he began training in lethwei at an early age. He proved to be a prodigious talent in the discipline and competed in the sport to impeccable results, as he sports a perfect record of 10-0-2.

Evidently, losing is not in his nature. Saw Min Min made the jump from the lethwei ring to the martial arts cage this past June at ONE: LIGHT OF A NATION, and had a stellar professional debut. That night, he knocked out Kyar Ba Hein, and then defeated his T&T Thaton teammate Shwe Kyaung Thar to capture the ONE Myanmar Flyweight Tournament Championship.

Most impressively, his win over Shwe Kyaung Thar came via submission, highlighting how quickly he’s adapting to the cage. At the upcoming November show, he draws Ye Thway Ne, who has redemption on his mind.

Ye Thway Ne

Ye Thway Ne (1-1) has displayed the makings of a martial arts prodigy. The 20-year-old, who is currently based in Hpa-An, started training in lethwei back in 2013. Amazingly, he reached the pinnacle of the sport by winning the Gold Belt in the 51kg weight category in both 2014 and 2015, only a year after he learned the trade.

He admittedly had a tough start to his ONE Championship career, as he fell to rising strawweight contender Pongsiri “The Smiling Assassin” Mitsatit in his promotional debut in May 2016. Ye Thway Ne righted the ship last June, however, as he defeated Pat Kyaw Ling Naing in the opening round of the ONE Myanmar Flyweight Tournament.

An unfortunate injury forced Ye Thway Ne to withdraw from the tournament finale opposite Saw Min Min, but now the world will get to see what would have happened, as the two are set to clash at ONE: HERO’S DREAM.