Road To Redemption Of South Africa's 'Little Giant' Begins At ONE 159

Not every competitor in mixed martial arts (MMA) has a compelling moniker and a captivating narrative to go along with it, but Bokang Masunyane is one of the few who has both an engrossing nickname and an even better story to tell about it.

Masunyane is known as "Little Giant," an alias that owns a great recall and goes way back when no one outside of his hometown in Johannesburg, South Africa knew who he was.

It was given to him by his grade school teacher named Mr. Venter in one of their classroom activities due to his brilliance as a student-athlete at a young age.

"I like the nickname 'Little Giant.' When I was in school, one of my teachers told me that he wants to write a book about my life story called 'Little Giant,'" the No. 2-ranked strawweight in ONE Championship told International Business Times sports editor and combat sports analyst Nissi Icasiano.

"I realized that I'm not going to be the biggest person around, but I didn't see that as a disadvantage. I was always a top performer in any sort of sports that I played. My size didn't matter."

The 5-foot-1 standout started out as a football player like most kids in his home country, but he discovered his love for combat sports when he joined the school's wrestling team at seven years old.

Despite his diminutive physical stature, Masunyane found success on the wrestling mat with his dynamic takedowns and smothering top control.

"I just made sure that I worked hard in anything I did. I used my height to an advantage, and I somehow always looked to outwork my opponents. It worked out well for me. They knew that they were going to have a tough time going against me," he shared.

"I was known for throwing my opponents around. I was this small guy wrestling against guys twice my size, and I always throw them on their heads."

After bowing out in the quarterfinal round of the 57-kilogram men's freestyle bracket at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, Masunyane decided to hang up both his singlet and boots for good and shifted his focus on a path to becoming a teacher like Mr. Venter.

However, he had a change of heart when he was invited to an MMA training by a close friend.

"I've always been fascinated with MMA, and I thought that I am good enough for it. I've always been ready to put in the work in any sport I did," Masunyane stated. "I honestly took a chance with doing MMA, but as soon as I started training, I really enjoyed it. I realized I was good at it. I knew this was what I wanted to do."

When he made his first stride into the amateur ranks in September 2015, Masunyane never had to think so hard for a sobriquet to use in his new career.

"I thought it'd be a great idea to use the nickname 'Little Giant' as my fight name. I'm not the biggest guy in my weight class, but I surely fight like a giant. My fighting style says it all," he stressed.

After racking up six consecutive victories in less than a year as an amateur competitor, Masunyane turned pro and was utterly dominant as he aced his five cage assignments under the banner of Extreme Fighting Championship Worldwide with flying colors.

Though a knee injury put him out of commission for the majority of 2018, his return to action was nothing short of remarkable as he cruised to a lopsided unanimous win over Yusuke Ogikubo at Pancrase 307 in July 2019.

The triumph against Ogikubo paved the way for the South African to get noticed by ONE Championship, where he made his promotional debut in December 2019 by scoring a clear-cut unanimous decision victory over Japanese spitfire Ryuto Sawada.

He followed it up with a highlight-reel performance by knocking out former title contender Rene Catalan of the Philippines in just 37 seconds with a head kick in December 2020.

His last three impressive outings landed him a strawweight world title eliminator against UFC veteran Jarred Brooks this past April, but unfortunately for Masunyane, he yielded to the American submission specialist via first-round rear-naked choke and tasted his first career defeat.

On Friday, July 22nd, he will be given a chance to redeem himself and wash away the bitter taste of defeat.

At the upcoming ONE 159 in Singapore, Masunyane is penciled to lock horns with the No. 3-graded Hiroba Minowa in a three-round encounter on the main card.

"It was a hard pill for me to swallow having my first loss. It's something I go over in my head and understand that I don't want to happen again," he said in a recent interview.

"That loss gave me an extra drive in training. I've even worked even harder, so this is probably going to be the best shape I've ever been in leading up to a fight."

Masunyane vows to leave no stone unturned as he aims to get back on track in the race to secure a date with the winner of the bout between Brooks and reigning division kingpin Joshua Pacio.

"For me, it's always wanting to fight the best fighters in the world. And ONE Championship has got the best strawweight fighters in the world. I'm pleased that they gave me someone within the top five, so I can still claim my ranking in the right way," he mentioned.

"I'm here to prove to my division that I am the best in the world. I will prove to the rest of the world watching ONE Championship that I am here to stay. I'm here to become a world champion."