Eduard Folayang makes his much-awaited defense of his ONE Championship lightweight title on home soil when he faces Malaysian contender Ev Ting tonight in the main event of the fight card dubbed as “Kings of Destiny” at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Folayang ended years of hardships last November when he scored a third round TKO win over Japanese fighter Shinya Aoki at the Singapore Indoor Stadium to wrest his first-ever championship in the Asian-based promotion.
The victory made Folayang, nicknamed “The Landslide”, the face of local MMA after chasing a major belt since making his debut in octagon nearly 10 years ago.
He is eager to give the hometown crowd a treat but the Team Lakay standout also expressed wary of Ting’s capability of cutting his title reign short.
“I know the stakes. I know what’s riding on this fight,” Folayang said recently. “Ev Ting is coming for my belt. He’s coming to take what I’ve worked so hard for my entire career. There is no way I’m just going to let him take it. It’s not going to be easy, that’s for sure.”
Ting is seeing action for the first time since his submission win over Kamal Shalorus last February in Kuala Lumpur.