Filipino cancer survivor battles his way through intl’ MMA contest

Louie Sangalang—a Philippine mixed martial arts champion, a father, a successful entrepreneur, and the first Filipino cancer survivor to finish the North Pole Marathon is now one of the contestants in The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition.

The ONE Championship series showcases contestants from around the world who will compete in high-stakes challenges designed to test their limits, with the ultimate prize being a once-in-a-lifetime US$250,000 job at the MMA company itself.

Sangalang considered his knowledge in martial arts and endurance in sports to be the most important ingredient needed to try and join the show. He said this was his way of giving back to the martial arts sport that has let him work with different organizations across the globe.

His ambition comes from the idea that Filipinos can do so much more than what we limit ourselves to be.

“We allow ourselves to fail and excel. That makes me realize that I can learn more. When it comes to e-sport and martial arts, I know that I can offer more," he said.

Sangalang further revealed that after being diagnosed with cancer and surviving, he decided to work for an organization that supports cancer patients, “Love, Nils”.

"When I was much younger, we didn't really have access to a lot of channels. I don't remember, we were at the stage of internet infancy. So, if you wanted to know more about cancer, you had to research on your own. It took some time before you actually got information. I think what's important right now is that we have access to a lot of information from very reliable sources,” Sangalang said.

He also added that aside from the fact that there's so many experts nowadays, information and treatments are also easily accessible.

“I've been helping out every now and then in a few foundations as well here in the Philippines, but nothing as structured, or let's just say as tangible as what we did for LOVE, NILS. And for me, that is truly an honor to be able to provide that value. It is something that's really close to my heart," he said.

As the show continued and Louie reached the final two candidates in The Apprentice: ONE championship Edition show, he mentioned how he learned and was surprised by the show and his journey. The most surprising thing about learning himself in his journey is that he is working with many talented people. Missing his family because he has never been so far away from them. And realizing that he can be firm without his wife but not strong enough to prevent himself from crying on national TV.

“But I think I kind of pretty much know myself very well that I would be super resilient in the competition, or, you know, I would be able to kind of do the projects very well, manage projects with a bunch of talented individuals. I think the most surprising thing was, how, at some point, without support and this is going back there to LOVE, NILS, at some point, when you're down and out, it's just so hard to survive on your own. And that's where support is very much needed. Well, yeah, that was surprising to me,” he mentioned. Since Louie opened up his story as a cancer survivor a lot of people were inspired to continue life and keep pushing. His message for cancer patients and cancer survivors is to never give up. He advises that hold onto your support systems, whatever they may be—your friends or families, people who are close to you in life. He emphasized the meaning of never giving up, for him it is always trying to educate oneself and be healthy. He also left a message to his Filipino fans and supporters.

“To the Filipino fans, to the people who watch the show, thank you so much for your support. It means a lot, I know that I can't be a person who can be relatable to a lot of Filipinos because, you know, I'm very reserved and quiet person, but, you know, I assure you is that I will continue to deliver, I will do my best to make the top spot. So that's something I can assure you. And I know that we're having (we're going through) a hard time, especially with COVID in the Philippines,” Sangalang said.