Carlo “The Bull” Bumina-ang will have to live up to expectations when he makes his ONE Championship debut in a few weeks. 

From a guy who entered the ONE Friday Fights series with just a single MMA win a year ago, he now stands as a flag bearer for Team Lakay when he takes on Asa “The American Ninja” Ten Pow at ONE Fight Night 24: Brooks vs. Balart on August 3 inside Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. 

Bumina-ang will certainly be a fearsome addition to the bantamweight MMA division, and his head coach Mark Sangiao didn’t hold back when asked about his student’s promotional debut. 

“Looking at his results, I’m very confident that Carlo can rise above and become a World Champion in ONE. He’s gonna represent this country while wearing that belt one day,” Sangiao said, while gushing over his student’s ability to finish wherever the fight goes. 

“He’s a testament that Team Lakay isn’t just pure striking. Through years of experience, we’ve seen the need for fighters to develop new skills, and I believe we can see that through Carlo – he can dominate you on the feet or on the ground.”

One of the many positive things about the man who Sangiao has branded “The Bull” is that he’s not shying away from expectations. 

After beating Reza Saedi in his ONE Friday Fights debut as a relative newbie to MMA, Bumina-ang’s confidence grew as the challenges got tougher. 

Following two sensational finishes, he was tested by Denis Andreev and dragged to a split-decision victory for the first time in his career. 

He was back to his fearsome ways in his next fight, though, putting Xie Zhipeng to sleep with a choke before ending Chayan Oorzhak’s own unbeaten streak in ONE Friday Fights with another submission win to take the US$100,000 contract to ONE Championship. 

“There’s a lot of things I learned from ONE Friday Fights. Getting experience against really good fighters from different backgrounds and upbringings really helped me as I enter the main roster,” Bumina-ang said. 

“It also helped me in managing adversity, making key adjustments, and staying composed in fights,” he added.  

“I was really tested during that fight against Denis Andreev where I made mistakes. I had to adjust and think of ways to get the upper hand again, and I won. This fight is something that I’m looking at when it comes to my improvement.” 

After having beaten some of the toughest fighters looking to score their own contracts at Lumpinee Stadium, Bumina-ang plans to run through everyone in front of him – starting with Ten Pow. 

“For all the fans who haven’t seen me yet, you can expect pure excitement each time I step in the ring. I want to ‘wow’ these people with my performances,” he said. 

“I want to show them that I belong in the big league,” he said. “Here comes ‘The Bull.’”