AKIPRESS.COM - Arguably the biggest name in mixed martial arts (MMA) ever to come out of Mongolia, Narantungalag Jadambaa was recently honored by the Mongolian President with one of the highest awards in the country, the Order of Merit, says Yahoo.

The Order of Merit is presented personally by the President of Mongolia, and is awarded to outstanding individuals who have contributed greatly to Mongolia and its international reputation through personal achievements.

Jadambaa is the first Mongolian mixed martial artist to ever achieve international success in the sport. He began competing in MMA professionally in 2004, and has fought all around the world accumulating a respectable record of 10 wins and four losses.

He is currently fighting in ONE Championship, Asia’s largest promotion, where he captured the promotion’s featherweight world title with a unanimous decision win over Japan’s Koji Oishi to become Mongolia’s first-ever MMA Champion.

“The award represents a validation of all my efforts throughout the years,” said Jadambaa. “The response from people I meet has been fantastic. I am overjoyed.”

He may have lost the title to current ONE Featherweight World Champion Marat Gafurov in November 2015, but he left the cage with his head held high after a tremendous showing of heart and ability. He survived several near-submissions from Gafurov, constantly coming back with powerful strikes to prove he was still in the fight. However, he succumbed to a rear naked choke in the fourth round, passing out after choosing not to tap.