“The Dragon Leg” Tial Thang

Four-time Chin State Wrestling Champion Tial Thang was born on a small farm in the Chin State of Myanmar, and he always dreamed of representing his country in martial arts one day. But his life would change drastically when he was 10 years old, as his family began to relocate around the world, eventually ending up in the United States.

Having to adapting to different languages and cultures presented frequent challenges for Tial growing up, but martial arts would become the way for him to make new friends. He joined the wrestling team when he was in the 7th grade, and it would be a decision that would kickstart years of great success. While he was in school, Tial won over 500 matches in wrestling on the way to New York State Championships in Freestyle and Greco-Roman Wrestling. He also won 50 matches in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, leading him to seriously consider a professional career in mixed martial arts.

However, he never pursued his ambitions seriously until he saw two-division ONE World Champion Aung La N Sang competing professionally. Seeing someone from Myanmar living his dreams lit a fire beneath Tial, and he set out to train under Aung La immediately. When he finally met the Myanmar icon, Tial’s life changed forever. Aung La told him that he would not succeed if he was not fully committed to training, causing Tial to take a leap of faith. He quit a well-paying job and moved across the country just to train with his hero, and now joins Aung La on the global stage of ONE Championship in pursuit of his martial arts dreams.