Alain ‘The Panther’ Ngalani steps into the ONE Championship cage at ONE: HERO’S DREAM on 3 November in Yangon, Myanmar, looking to showcase his spectacular skills.
There’s no mistaking Ngalani when he walks into a room. He is a physical phenom; musclebound, yet freakishly flexible. He’s a heavy-handed heavyweight, who despite being 42 years of age, can do the splits with ease. In short, he’s a remarkable athlete.
Of course, Ngalani’s physique and skillset both took years of hard work to achieve, and now he’s back in the gym preparing to face a unique challenge, ONE Middleweight World Champion Aung La N Sang, who steps up to face the Cameroon-born Hong Kong native in a special Open-Weight Super Bout.
“For anything in life, if you want to achieve it, it is about how badly you want it,” Ngalani explained. “Do you actually want it? Are you willing to put in the effort? That is all.”
Ngalani is a rarity in martial arts. The big Hong Kong heavyweight is achieving success both inside and outside the cage, with his Impakt MMA gym business mirroring his victories in the cage, as he continues to go from strength to strength, both as a competitor and as a businessman.
“When I am not competing, I am still at the gym,” he explained. “I still have to run the gym. I meet customers, I train them, and then when event time comes, my team addresses my training according to my opponent, what we have to work on, and so on.
“Sometimes, I will have from six to ten clients a day on my schedule, and then during that time I will also find the time to train myself. When I am not competing, I have at least two hours of training a day, and when I am competing, I have at least four hours of training a day.”
Ngalani’s daily routine kicks off with a half-hour stretching session at 7am. Flexibility gives Ngalani the base from which he can throw his spectacular techniques, and he makes sure he addresses that quality first thing every morning.
From 10am to noon he undergoes his first training session of the day, usually a high-intensity session.
“In the morning, I do a lot of strength and cardio training,” he explains. “We do two hours of training in the morning, then two hours in the afternoon. I like to do high intensity interval training to keep my explosiveness going.
“Then, I have something to eat and try to have a nap, because it is hard work.”
After a short rest and some sleep, Ngalani returns to his routine in the afternoon, as he turns his attention to his business matters, before launching back into physical preparations for his upcoming bout at around 5pm.
Ngalani’s bout with Aung La N Sang offers “The Panther” a different kind of challenge, as he has to prepare for a smaller, faster athlete than some of his recent opponents.
“I take care of various appointments, training clients and preparing my school programs,” he explains. “In the afternoon, we will do sparring and specific technical training focused on my opponent. So right now, it is Brazilian jiu-jitsu, ground work, and takedown defence.
“There is still lots of striking, shadow boxing, and timing work, too.”
Understandably, all those muscles need fuelling, and Ngalani’s nutrition programme is just as important as his physical training. “The Panther” eats six to seven times a day, either full meals when time allows, or shakes or soups when he’s on the move.
“I have to eat as much as I train,” he explains. “I have to keep eating, so I have to eat every two to three hours. I have to have big meals, my vegetables, fish, chicken, and so on.”
After a long day of training, conducting his business affairs and squeezing in a meal or six, he looks forward to the end of the day, when he returns home to spend time with his family.
“When I get home, I relax with the family, read or watch a movie, and then it’s bed time at around 11pm.”
Ngalani’s working days are long and hard, but they’re spent sharpening his skills for the bout ahead, and improving his business for the years to come.
It’s all part of Ngalani’s master plan - and it all leads up to his Open-Weight Super Bout with Aung La N Sang on 3 November. Victory in Yangon will make the tireless hours of preparation all worth it.