Jhanlo Mark Sangiao, 18, of the Philippines has joined ONE Championship. He is one of the two sons of Mark Sangiao, 42, the founder of Team Lakay, which is based in La Trinidad, Benguet, Philippines.

Training out of Team Lakay, Jhanlo said that from a young age, he was prepared by his father for the adversities typically faced by mixed martial artists. The teenage MMA fighter shared, “Papa is very strict with me, which isn’t bad ’cause I know it’s for my own good, too, but he always told me that in MMA, I have to always train, be passionate and enjoy what I’m doing.”

Indeed, MMA is something Jhanlo enjoys and is passionate about. He has been competing professionally since 2018 and he currently holds a professional MMA record of 3 wins and 0 loss.

“Ever since I was a kid, I was surrounded by athletes, papa’s students and his teammates,” Jhanlo recalled. “When he was teaching, he would bring me with him and I think that’s where I got the passion for the sport, that I was used to seeing them fight and that I also wanted to fight for myself. I wanted to experience that feeling of having my hands raised and winning a match.”

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In any industry, having a famed family name is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, introducing Jhanlo to MMA fans does not require much effort.

On the other hand, much is expected from Jhanlo not only as the Team Lakay founder’s son. Also, the teenager is expected to become more successful than the Team Lakay fighters who came before him or at least as successful as them.

Team Lakay is home to reigning ONE Strawweight World Champion Joshua “The Passion” Pacio, 25. Some ONE Championship veterans are his teammates including Edward “The Ferocious” Kelly, 37, Gina “Conviction” Iniong, 32, Lito “Thunder Kid” Adiwang, 28, and Danny “The King” Kingad, 25, as well as former champions Eduard “Landslide” Folayang, 36, Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon, 33, Honorio “The Rock” Banario, 31, and Geje “Gravity” Eustaquio, 32.

Also training at Team Lakay, Stephen “The Sniper” Loman, 29, has also joined ONE Championship. He was the longest reigning champion of BRAVE Combat Federation from 2019 to 2020.