Jean Claude Sac-lag might have won all the accolades he could in the amateur ranks but his time with the Philippine team is not yet over.
Saclag, 28, of Lubuagan, Kalinga and Kapangan, Benguet, is also looking forward to compete in another level and hopefully join his fellow Team Lakay fighters as a professional mixed martial artist.
“Hopefully later this year,” said the youngest among the 13 children of former Lubuagan Vice Ma-yor Patricio Saclag and Judith Kitong.
Winning a gold medal in the 2023 Pan Asian International Open (No Gi), Saclag said he is keen on fighting in the professional ranks and hopefully create a mark just like his achievement with the wushu and kickboxing national teams.
His first foray into the national team earned him a bronze during the 2013 Wushu World Championship in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Saclag’s greatest achievement in sanda came in 2014 when he won the gold during the Sanda World Cup in Jakarta, Indonesia then followed it up with a silver in the Asian Games in Incheon, Korea.
He then shifted to kickboxing and had another fruitful stint, bagging gold medals during the 2019, 2021, and 2023 editions of the Southeast Asian Games inclu-ding a gold during the 2022 Asian Kickboxing Championship.
More than his experience as a martial artist, Saclag said his speed and aggressiveness will play a big factor once he sees action as a professional fighter.
Saclag continued with the competition in the amateur at the backburner and is currently training all facets of MMA in the hopes that he would be signed in the professional ranks. – Press release
