By Jun Ray Navarres
It was barely a surprise for Team Lakay head coach Mark Sangiao to see Stephen Loman take down ONE bantamweight’s no. 3-ranked contender Yusup Saadulaev in his debut last December.
The Sniper swiftly finished Saadulaev at ONE: WINTER WARRIORS II, battering the latter with heavy punches to force a technical knockout at the 4:09 mark of the first round – a quick assassination of the Maestro.
“I was not surprised knowing the fight record and experiences of Stephen and that he was a long reigning champion for some years in another promotion,” said Sangiao.
“What I was surprised of was Yusup’s game plan of exchanging strikes with The Sniper. Striking is the bread and butter of Team Lakay as we all know and we were expecting a ground game from Yusup, but he didn’t try to take the fight to the ground.”
A clear mistake that cost him his position.
With the loss, Loman made quick progression in the rankings, taking over Saadulaev’s third place seat at ONE athlete rankings.
“He pulled a clean win over Yusup who was holding the third rank, so to me, this should automatically put Stephen into the top five in the division,” expressed Sangiao.
Proven as a deadly combatant inside the Circle, Loman just solidify his status, threatening the division kingpin Bibiano Fernandes and next contender John Lineker.
And Sangiao expects Loman’s star to continue to shine as he braces for more top-flight fighters in the weight class.
Who knows, it won’t be long for him to get his crack at the crown.
And the road is familiar to coach Mark, being on the sideline when former bantamweight world champion Kevin Belingon took over the division.
“If there’s one thing that we got from our experiences then, it’s that it’s important to have self-assurance, that imposing self-confidence that you’ll win the war,” he said.
“If Stephen will be able to duplicate the commanding result he got from this debut fight, then facing the champion won’t be that far-fetched. There’s still a lot that the ONE fans have yet to see from Stephen, but one thing that you should watch out for him will be his power.”
But Loman might not be alone in his ascent as his brothers Jhanlo Mark Sangiao and Jeremy Pacatiw are also making their introductions heard throughout the 65.8-kg weight class.
Furthermore, there is still fire in Belingon that a passing of torch may not be happening for now – rather a reinforcement of the stable’s presence in the division.
“Only time and Kevin can tell, of course. If Kevin decides to pass the buck to Stephen, then so be it. But if he was challenged by the outcome of his outings in his last couple fights and passionately wants to reign in the division one more time, then that will still be very good for us,” said Sangiao.
“The passing of the torch will come naturally, and for now, it is what it is.”
Follow the writer on Twitter: @burnsports
