Mark Sangiao vows comeback for Team Lakay in 2021

MANILA, Philippines — Like most of Filipinos, it was a bleak 2020 for mixed martial arts stable Team Lakay.

Apart from being stymied by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the MMA gym was unable to gain any momentum in the cages, particularly in Singapore promotion ONE Championship where they suffered more setbacks than victories.

But like the rest of the world attempting to recover from the effects of the health crisis, the Baguio stable is planning its comeback once the next year rolls on.

"Hindi lang naman sa Team, kundi sa lahat ay naging malungkot yung mga results... Pati ekonomiya natin, pangit yung nadulot ng pandemyang ito," Sangiao told Philstar.com.

"Same with us, yung adjustment natin, yun siguro hindi natin napaghandaan... No excuses, pero yun yung experience namin. Hindi kami nakapagadjust," he added, speaking about sports' "bubble" set-up.

2020 saw Sangiao's squad suffer defeats once they returned to the ONE cage after a prolonged hiatus due to the lockdown.

Big names like Eduard Folayang, Kevin Belingon and Lito Adiwang all were unsuccessful in their first bout back.

This followed a tumultuous 2019 for Team Lakay, which saw three of its four World Titles stripped from their fighters.

But the multi-titled MMA tactician isn't losing hope, with learned experiences from the year to be used to further develop their skills.

"Pagbalik natin sa 2021, I'm sure prepared na tayo sa mga ganung set-up and babawi tayo," he said.