Burmese MMA champion Aung La N Sang calls for reversal of ‘unlawful’ Myanmar coup
- ‘People of Myanmar all want same thing … release of elected leaders, restoration of democracy’ – ONE Championship star
- ‘I kindly request the world to hear Myanmar’s voice and show support for peaceful and transformative resolution,’ says ‘Burmese Python’
The 35-year-old “Burmese Python” (26-11, one no contest), who trains in Florida having moved to the US to study in 2004, returns to the MMA cage in April for a trilogy bout against Vitaly Bigdash (10-2) in the headliner of the ONE on TNT 3 card.
N Sang took the Russian’s middleweight title at Yangon’s Thuwanna National Indoor Stadium in June 2017, becoming Myanmar’s first world champion in any mainstream sport, and has amassed more than 2.8 million Facebook followers from his home country. The social media platform has been blocked by the junta, but N Sang’s post has attracted more than 137,000 likes and more than 24,000 shares.
“To my international friends and family, it has been 16 days [since] the military has seized power in my home country,” N Sang wrote in a social media post. “The people of Myanmar have responded immediately in the masses with peaceful demonstrations and a nationwide Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) that involves government agencies, teachers, doctors, lawyers, engineers and even the police across the country.
“Unfortunately in the past few days, the military government escalated their assault on the citizens by firing at protesters in Mandalay and Naypyidaw. Last night, in Myitkyina [Kachin state], my hometown, the military fired their weapons and arrested journalists.
“They have passed new laws that will allow them to arrest anyone without a warrant if they feel they are a threat to their regime. Already many citizens have been abducted in the middle of the night without reason.
