‘They Gave Me A Chance’ – Carlo Bumina-ang Ready To Lead Team Lakay Resurgence
Carlo Bumina-ang’s rise to relevancy couldn’t have come at a better time for the Philippines’ Team Lakay, a squad that lost most of its best fighters following a massive exodus that lasted almost one year.
Bumina-ang’s rise couldn’t have come any sooner either. The 30-year-old tore through the ONE Friday Fights platform in less than 12 months, firing off five straight victories highlighted by four stunning finishes to earn a US$100,000 contract to compete in ONE Championship.
As he prepares for his debut against #5-ranked bantamweight MMA contender Enkh-Orgil Baatarkhuu at ONE Fight Night 24: Brooks vs. Balart on August 2 in U.S. primetime at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, let’s look at the Baguio City stable’s latest sensation and his martial arts journey that started not long ago.
‘Life Back Then’
Up until 2018, Bumina-ang’s life was, in his own words, pretty boring. He experienced nothing too problematic, but nothing too exciting either.
The youngest of five siblings, the pride of Baguio City worked at a local market selling bananas, bananas that he’d pick from his mother’s humble plantation. For two years, that was life for Bumina-ang, but it got him by.
He told ONEFC.com:
“I only started MMA in 2018. I entered as a student in our old gym. But before that, I had a small stall in Baguio Market, selling bananas from around 2016 to 2018.
“I would help my mother deliver her harvest, and I’d take some for myself to sell them at the market in my own stall. That was pretty much my life back then.”
But Bumina-ang always felt that his life had more purpose.
He held a degree in hotel and restaurant services that he earned from Baguio School of Business and Technology, he was athletic, and he had a passion for basketball. But the sport — a pastime in the Philippines — wasn’t a profession suited for him because of his stocky stature.
He said:
“I was thinking to myself: I know I’m bound for something bigger. I finished college, I have a two-year degree, why am I stuck doing what I’m doing?”
It just so happened that his epiphany came just as Team Lakay was starting to take over the world of MMA.
A Product Of The Old Guard
In 2018, the Philippines had five World Champions in ONE – four of whom came from Mark Sangiao’s Team Lakay.
Eduard Folayang was the ONE Lightweight MMA World Champion for the second time. Kevin Belingon and Geje “Gravity” Eustaquio fired back at their old tormentors to claim the ONE Bantamweight and Flyweight MMA World Titles, respectively. And a 22-year-old kid named Joshua Pacio had just won the strawweight strap.
From the sidelines, Bumina-ang watched in awe as these four warriors from the same region, who came from the same upbringing, put the world on notice by ruling over their respective divisions simultaneously – a feat that hasn’t been replicated by any other gym since.
That observation soon turned into action and he found himself trading in bananas for gloves, his environment shifting from the bustling marketplace to the high-intensity gym.
Exchanging a stable life for a profession that requires 100 percent commitment without all the assurances of success is surely a risk, but it was a risk Bumina-ang was certainly willing to take.
He recalled:
“I started getting obsessed with MMA. I was watching ONE Championship, I thought to myself, I wanted to try this because after all, I like the idea of punching people. I wasn’t getting into fights or anything. I just loved watching and seeing how people throw their punches in the ring.
“Around that time, Team Lakay was already booming. They had four World Champions in its stable and that encouraged me to join. I enrolled only as a student, then I enjoyed it. After two months, I told them that I would like to join the Team Lakay [fight team]. Coach Mark observed me during training and then allowed me to compete.”
Fast-Tracked To Fighting
Not many 24-year-olds can jump into the demanding sport of MMA, let alone find success in the sport in such a short period of time, but “The Bull” was a different breed of fighter.
He was eager. He put himself in spots where he’d have to punch above his weight to take part. He tested himself against better and more experienced fighters. And while he took his fair share of lickings, it molded him into the fighter he is now.
That fire and dedication wasn’t lost on Team Lakay’s head coach, and soon Sangiao signed Bumina-ang up to compete in local competitions, where his student won medals for the Philippine National Kickboxing Team.
Sangiao said:
“I saw a very patient kid, someone who had a different kind of perseverance in him. When he was new to the team, he was really trying hard to keep in step with the team. I heard no complaints from him. He just wanted to compete.
“From the first time I saw him compete in TLC, the local competition here, I knew that not only does he have the right characteristics, he also has the physical tools to succeed in this sport.”
After a successful stint in the local circuit and on the nation’s kickboxing team, Bumina-ang proved himself ready to represent the squad on the ONE Friday Fights platform — and boy did he show up.
A Filipino Bull-Rushes The Global Stage
From the moment Bumina-ang threw his first punch at Reza “Jaguar” Saedi in his ONE Friday Fights debut in August 2023, “The Bull” showed a different kind of intensity, and it won him the hearts of ONE’s global fan base.
He was taken into deep waters in his second fight against Denis Andreev, but he returned to his finishing ways by knocking out Ilyas Dursun. Even today the image of the young Turk hanging from the ropes of Lumpinee still replays in the minds of MMA fans around the world.
According to Bumina-ang, his performances were the byproducts of being an eager learner, an open-mind student of the game, and someone who wanted to repay Team Lakay for the chance they gave him.
Bumina-ang said:
“I’m very observant. I watch my coach and my teammates. I listen and I learn from them.
“I make every training session count, because they gave me a chance to be this team’s representative, and in return I’m making sure to be at my best in every training session. That mindset got me here.”
It’s the same mindset that he’ll bring against Baatarkhuu, a guy who’s made a name for himself in the world’s largest martial arts organization by taking Filipino heads.
But as Bumina-ang prepares for his debut on the global stage, he can’t help but smile knowing how far he’s come since transitioning from the marketplace to the ring.
He said:
“I’m grateful because right now I get to do what I love. There’s fulfillment now on my end. Looking back five years ago, if I didn’t take the risk and bet on myself, I would probably still be carrying bananas and selling them in the market.
“Compared to my situation back then, I’m in a place where I’m happy with what I’m doing, and my life is also improving at the same time. For that I’ll always be grateful.”
