Eduard Folayang News

Tom Taylor - March 31, 2019

On Sunday night (early Sunday morning in North America), Singapore-based martial arts powerhouse ONE Championship debuted in the MMA hotbed of Tokyo, Japan with the aptly named ONE: A New Era card. To celebrate this Tokyo debut, ONE Championship bolstered this card with some of the biggest names on its roster.

Tom Taylor - March 28, 2019

In 2011, Filipino Wushu specialist Eduard Folayang was invited to headline the debut event from a brand new promotion called ONE Fighting Championship. Folayang was originally booked to fight fellow Filipino Ole Laursen on the card, but was later matched up with streaking Korean A Sol Kwon when Laursen was sidelined with a knee injury. Folayang prevailed despite the opponent change, winning a unanimous decision. Almost eight years later, Folayang has competed 14 more times for this promotion (which has since dropped the word “Fighting” from its name).

BJPENN.COM Staff - March 20, 2019

Eduard Folayang is honored to headline ONE: A NEW ERA on 31 March where he will defend his ONE Lightweight World Title at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan against legendary Japanese martial artist Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki. Heading into this highly-anticipated rematch, Folayang knows he has to put forth the best performance of his career in order to successfully retain his title against the streaking Aoki. As such, he is hard at work in training camp getting ready to put on an absolute show.

BJPENN.COM Staff - March 15, 2019

ONE: A NEW ERA in Japan on 31 March will be one of the most-watched and significant martial arts events of the year. The show marks the first time ONE Championship has staged an event in Japan, and athletes from all over the world will be in action.

BJPENN.COM Staff - February 7, 2019

Team Lakay will be coming to Tokyo, Japan in full force when ONE Lightweight World Champion Eduard Folayang and ONE Bantamweight World Champion Kevin Belingon defend their respective World Titles at ONE: A New Era. Folayang is set to duke it out against local hero Shinya Aoki in a highly-anticipated rematch for the ONE Lightweight World Title in the main event.

BJPENN.COM Staff - January 31, 2019

Team Lakay’s Honorio Banario faltered in his goal to hand undefeated American Lowen Tynanes the first setback of his professional career. The two warriors met in the quarter-final round of the highly-anticipated ONE Lightweight World Grand Prix on the main card of ONE: Hero’s Ascent which took place last 25 January at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila.

BJPENN.COM Staff - January 23, 2019

Eduard “Landslide” Folayang is the two-time and current ONE Lightweight World Champion. The Filipino warrior has had to overcome unthinkable poverty and tragedy to ascend to his current level. His story is one of the most triumphant you’ll find in the sports world. Folayang was born in Baguio City, in the Philippines where his family was impoverished. Folayang was one of nine children, but five of his siblings passed away from illnesses. Access to proper health care could have remedied the dire situations, but it wasn’t available. Folayang’s father worked as a laborer and part-time farmer. His mother worked at a laundromat. Though neither of Folayang’s parents learned to read or write, they made sure their children didn’t grow up with the same limitations. “My parents sacrificed a lot to bring us to school,” Folayang said. “Sometimes, they even borrowed money just for us to pay our tuition fees. In their daily lives, they didn’t focus on just one job; they found extra work that they could do so that it would compensate for the needs that we had.” Folayang’s parents were eyeing a career in law enforcement for him, but he chose martial arts instead. After accepting a scholarship for wushu, partly to lessen the financial burden on his parents, Folayang’s career in martial arts was on its way. He won 11 major medals as a member of the Philippine Wushu team. In 2007 at the age of 23, Folayang turned pro as a mixed martial artist. He started his career on a five-bout win streak. All but one of the victories came via first-round stoppage, and two of them took less than a minute. Just as he was flying high, Folayang faced a young, up-and-coming martial artist named Jon Tuck in 2009.

BJPENN.COM Staff - January 11, 2019

Eduard Folayang has vowed to make a statement when he defends his crown at ONE: A New Era on March 31 in Tokyo. Taking on the legendary Japanese grappler Shinya Aoki, the man he stopped back in 2016 to claim the ONE Lightweight World Title for the first time, Folayang has promised to deliver another beating of the No.1 contender.

BJPENN.COM Staff - January 9, 2019

In an instant, 12 months of pain had evaporated. With his hand raised and the belt wrapped around his waist, 16,000 screaming fans erupted. Eduard Folayang felt tingles down his spine. “Of course, I wanted to cry but the tears didn’t come out,” reflected Folayang, who became the first man in ONE Championship history to claim the lightweight world title for the second time when he defeated Singapore’s Amir Khan at ONE: Conquest of Champions in late November.

BJPENN.COM Staff - December 28, 2018

A veteran of the Philippine martial arts scene, reigning ONE lightweight king Eduard Folayang has been around the block. For the past decade, Folayang has provided fans with countless thrilling performances against some of the fiercest foes in the business. One performance however, stands out from the rest.

Tom Taylor - December 23, 2018

Nestled among the winding streets of Baguio City, which sits 5000 feet above sea level in the Philippines, Team Lakay is about the closest thing you’ll find to a gym in the clouds. Yet this MMA training facility only recently began to achieve the lofty successes you’d expect from a place at its altitude. In 2018, almost fifteen years after its inception, Team Lakay produced a whopping four ONE Championship titleholders. Geje Eustaquio captured the promotion’s flyweight title, Kevin Belingon assumed the throne at bantamweight, Joshua Pacio became the strawweight champion, and Eduard Folayang, the most notable fighter to emerge from the gym, capped off the year by reclaiming the ONE lightweight title.

Tom Taylor - December 13, 2018

Eduard Folayang is once again the ONE lightweight champion. The Team Lakay representative recaptured the title with a thrilling decision defeat of Amir Khan, which went down in front of his legions of Filipino faithful in Manila in late November. With the belt once again slung over his shoulder, Folayang is looking ahead to his first challenge as champion. That being said, it’s a little difficult to say who will provide that first challenge.

Tom Taylor - November 23, 2018

ONE: Conquest of Champions, which went down in Manila, The Philippines on Friday night (Friday morning in North America), did not disappoint. To the elation of the deafeningly loud crowd in attendance, two Filipinos left the arena with belts wrapped round their waists, as Brandon Vera sniped Mauro Cerilli to retain his ONE heavyweight title, and Eduard Folayang out-duelled Amir Khan to capture the vacant ONE lightweight strap. Eduard Folayang battled Amir Khan in the card’s co-main event. While Singapore’s Khan enjoyed some success in the first frame, Folayang came alive in the second, and did not relent until the end of the fifth. The Filipino champion, who is now the first two-time titleholder in ONE lightweight history, punished his dangerous foe with a stunning breadth of spinning attacks — just what we’ve come to expect from the top fighters out of the belt-hoarding Team Lakay gym.

BJPENN.COM Staff - November 21, 2018

He’s taken the long road back, but Eduard Folayang says reclaiming the ONE Lightweight World Title in his fight with Amir Khan at ONE: Conquest of Heroes this Friday night (Friday morning in North America) would be the sweetest victory of his decorated career.  “Yeah, I do [believe it will be the sweetest],” Eduard Folayang declared to the applause of the pro-Filipino crowd at the ONE: Conquest of Champions kick-off press conference at the City of Dreams in Manila on Tuesday. “I want to claim that. Of course, it’s not only about that. My tough loss last year was very hard to get through, but I really worked hard and now the opportunity is present and I don’t want to miss that gift.

Tom Taylor - November 8, 2018

In the span of just a few weeks, Singapore-based martial arts promotion ONE Championship has added former UFC flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson and former UFC lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez to its roster, and brought on former UFC bantamweight champ Miesha Tate as one of its Vice Presidents. Needless to say, these are tremendously exciting times for the promotion. ONE Championship’s top fighters, as you can probably expect, are feeling that excitement, and are thrilled about the promotion’s deepening talent pool.

Tom Taylor - November 11, 2016

https://twitter.com/GrabakaHitman/status/797097797484998656 Now that Eddie Alvarez, Will Brooks and Gilbert Melendez are all members of the UFC roster, Shinya Aoki stands out as one of the best lightweights – if not the best lightweight – outside the organization. Only current Bellator champ Michael Chandler and reigning WSOF lightweight king Justin Gaethje can challenge his reputation as such.