Mark Sangiao‘s mother was hesitant to support his martial arts training at first. He told ONE Championship, “She cared about me so she did not want me getting hurt, of course.”
The hurt hurled at Sangiao while in the mixed martial arts industry was more than physical especially after he retired as a fighter to dedicate his time as a coach. Social media made it easier for fight fans to mock him and his students each time they lose fights. But dealing with keyboard warriors is nothing compared to being embroiled in controversy after his students left his team.
Sangiao is the man behind Team Lakay, which for years exhibited the world-class warriorship of Igorot MMA fighters. Among his protégés are former ONE Championship champions Eduard Folayang, Kevin Belingon, Honorio Banario, Geje Eustaquio and Joshua Pacio.
After leaving Team Lakay, Folayang, Belingon, Banario and Pacio started a new team called Lions Nation MMA along with their fellow ONE Championship athletes Edward Kelly, Danny Kingad, Jeremy Pacatiw and Jenelyn Olsim, who are all former Team Lakay members. ONE Championship athletes Stephen Loman and Lito Adiwang later left Team Lakay without joining Lions Nation MMA.
Eustaquio is now the only Team Lakay veteran still with the team.
Team Lakay and Lions Nation MMA mutually declared that the fighters who left the former did so amicably. But there are things that happen behind the scenes that fight fans, especially keyboard warriors, know nothing about such as the meeting recently scheduled by the Philippines’ Games and Amusements Board (GAB).
On February 6, 2024, Sangiao, Pacio, Kingad, Pacatiw and Loman were supposed to attend a mediation at the GAB office in Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines. Only the Team Lakay founder appeared.
“I am trying to stay quiet and settle everything thru the proper avenue like GAB,” Sangiao said in a statement exclusively obtained by CONAN Daily. “I have been silent for so long and I never sought media circus. I have to protect our team, their team and everybody involved but I am constantly attacked at nilabas pa nila sa media, like sa GMA (and they even released it to the media like in GMA).”
“We were supposed to have a mediation scheduled with GAB officials but no one came,” Sangiao continued. “I tried contacting them individually pero si Jeremy lang ang sumagot. Hindi ko alam kung bakit then later, you get this write-up. (I tried contacting them individually but only Jeremy replied. I don’t know why then later, you get this write-up).”
The Team Lakay founder was referring to an article that first reported about the mediation. He asked, “What choice do I have left?”
CONAN Daily 