For some, 10 years is too long a wait, but for Estrada Donga-as, 10 years is enough for him to hone his skills and show to the world why Team Lakay is still a force to reckon with.
On Friday, August 23, Donga-as will make his debut in One Championship’s Friday Fight Nights at the Lumpinee Stadium against undefeated Vietnamese strawweight Pham Van Nam in the fight card that will feature 12 fight line -up in Muay Thai which also includes a pair of bouts contested under MMA and submission grappling rules.
Aside from debuting at the historic, it will be Donga-as first time to fight outside the country, after being a staple of Team Lakay Championship where he recently scored a unanimous decision win against John Anthony Brutas earlier in March this year.
Donga-as debuted in March 2015 where he won over Roderick Hilario and then followed it up with another victory in FightCon, emerging victorious against Jomar Basig and in the now defunct PXC yielding to fellow Baguio boy Dave Bangguigui in 2016.
He also won against Christopher Miguel in May 2017 then lost to Wallen Del Rosario in 2018 before taking on a six-year hiatus and mounted a comeback this year.
Van Nam Pham, is no stranger to tough battles, and has carved out a name for himself in the highly competitive ONE Championship Lumpinee circuit with his well-rounded skill set and ability to adapt to any situation inside the cage.
Pham’s technical striking and solid ground game make him a formidable adversary for anyone who steps in front of him, and he is undoubtedly looking to add another victory to his record.
Teammate and former world champion Geje Eustaquio believe Donga-as time has finally come, as he has given his younger fellow Team Lakay an outstanding grade during their training camp and hopefully this would equate to a victory come Friday.
“We have high hopes that Estrada will go toe-to-toe against his opponent this Friday. His striking has been there, and his ground game has already improved,” added Eustaquio.
Donga-as will be joined by ONE Lumpinee alum Carlo Bumina-ang who will serve as his corner during the bout and is expected to get pointers from the man who was recently signed – up in the main roster of ONE.
And for Donga-as, this bout represents a golden opportunity to further establish himself as a fighter to watch for in ONE Lumpinee and hopefully, gets signed up by the world’s largest martial arts promotion.
Meanwhile, Coach Mark Sangiao said their efforts to discover more fighters, and gets international exposure are paying off, thanks to the support of Benguet Congressman Eric Go Yap. NLMonitor
