Eduard “Landslide” Folayang is back on a familiar road.
Back to the drawing board after being defeated by his old foe Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki and losing his ONE Lightweight World Championship, the Baguio City native is confident he can reclaim his belt.
The 35-year-old Filipino hero knows the twists and turns of the path he is on, and he already knows how this will end.
“I think I’ve proven it time and time again. I lost before, then I was able to get back the ONE Lightweight World Title,” he explained.
“I lost again only to climb the ladder once more and win it back. Whatever the opportunity that would come, I won’t miss it again.”
Folayang certainly knows what he is talking about.
Talks of the Filipino icon being ‘done’ were aplenty after being knocked out by Martin Nguyen at ONE: LEGENDS OF THE WORLD in front of his countrymen back in November 2017.
But “Landslide” refused to stay down. He planned to get back up, and become stronger than ever.
The soft-spoken kuya of Team Lakay scored two straight wins over erstwhile undefeated Russian stalwarts Kharun Atlangeriev and Aziz Pahrudinov, and then received a shot at the vacated ONE Lightweight World Title against Evolva MMA’s Amir Khan.
Folayang pounced on that opportunity, as he out-worked Khan en route to a unanimous decision victory to reclaim the ONE Lightweight World Title.
If he was able to do that just six months ago, then “Landslide” is confident he can rise from the ashes now.
“It’s just a matter of time. If we get that chance once again, why not? If I need a couple of more wins to reach that, of course, I’m open to it,” he said.
“I always make my way back to title contention. Sometimes the opportunity comes for other athletes to get an immediate rematch, or stay within the top two contenders of the division. I feel like I’m still at that level.”
Like many in ONE Championship’s lightweight division, Folayang is also looking forward to testing the new kid on the block in Christian Lee, who made a grand debut in the weight class after capturing the ONE Lightweight World Title from Aoki at ONE: ENTER THE DRAGON.
“I’d love to test myself against the new champion,” the Filipino said. “He’s the ‘young lion.’ I want to face that young lion.”
