Nicknamed Mugen, Mark Striegl is a mixed martial arts fighter born in Tokyo, Japan, to an American father from New York and a Filipino mother from Oriental Mindoro. (Photo : Yibada/Conviron Altatis)
The fighters MMA fighter Mark "Mugen" Striegl, 28, look up to are Manny Pacquiao, 37, and Brandon Vera, 38. Pacquiao is the first and only eight-division world champion while Vera is the current ONE FC Heavyweight Champion.
"Well, the fighter that I look up to the most is Manny Pacquiao," Striegl said in an interview with Yibada. "He's such a great fighter, he's a good person. He's put the Philippines on the map with boxing."
Aside from Pacquiao, Striegl said that the MMA fighter he looks up to is Vera. Both Striegl and Vera are American-Filipino.
Before moving to the United States and eventually settling in the Philippines, Striegl was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan. His father is American while his mother is Filipino.
On the other hand, Vera was born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia. His father is of Filipino descent and his step mother is Filipino while his birth mother is Italian-American.
"I trained with him before in the United States," Striegl said referring to Vera. The former described the latter as "another fantastic fighter" and "overall a great guy."
Both Striegl and Vera are currently signed with ONE FC. The former has been a professional competitor since 2002.
Vera used to be the WEC 13 Heavyweight Grand Prix Champion. He has formerly competed for the UFC and the WEC.
Since 2002, Vera has won 14 MMA fights and was defeated in seven others. On Jan. 1, 2011, he lost to Thiago Silva via unanimous decision but the result was overturned after it was found out that the latter falsified his urine sample.
On the other hand, Striegl won 14 out of the 16 MMA fights he had since 2009. The only two fighters who defeated him were South Korean fighter Jang Yong Kim and Australian fighter Reece McLaren via leg scissors choke submission and rear-naked choke submission, respectively.
Watch a clip from the interview with Striegl here:
