Martin San Diego | FCF
Entering his upcoming bout against Kotetsu “No Face” Boku in ONE Fighting Championship’s “Rise of Heroes” card on May 2, Team Lakay MMA stalwart Eduard “Landslide” Folayang feels that the “pressure” is on for him to succeed in further strengthening the stronghold of the sport in the country.
During an interview on the radio program Sports On Air on Radyo Agila 1062 AM, the 29-year old former wushu national team member said that he carries the weight of the country’s pride and uses it to lift the sport to greater heights in potentially inspiring others to take up the sport.
“Tinetake ko na pressure yun, pressure na pagbutihin ko yung preparation ko kasi paangat pa lang ang MMA dito sa Pilipinas. So the more na pinagbubutihan natin, the more na naiinspire, tsaka the more na madidiscover ang Eduard (Folayang) o Honorio (Banario), or mga susunod pa na mga fighter na makapagrerepresent sa atin pagkatapos na magretire ako,” Folayang said.
A gold medalist during the 2011 Southeast Asian Games, Folayang made his professional MMA debut in URCC 10 back in June 30, 2007 to win the promotion’s welterweight belt, and will have a heavy task at hand in facing the former ONE FC lightweight world champion Boku, who took his place in the inaugural fight for the belt in 2012.
Boku, 36, snared the title against Zorobabel Moriera via technical knockout in the third round in the “Rise of Kings” card on October 6, 2012, but lost the belt a few months later to Shinya Aoki via submission in the “Kings and Champions” event on April 5, 2013.
Despite losing the title shot nearly two years ago, Folayang was assured that he remains as the number one contender for the title held by Aoki for more than a year.
Team Lakay coach Mark Sangiao, who has worked extensively with Folayang in his road to the fight, predicts that “Landslide” has the capability to knock out the Japanese former champion.
“Eduard is undergoing a very intense training in all aspects of mixed martial arts, in standing and on the ground. There are some differences from some of the routines that we were doing before,” Sangiao said. “We are focusing in all aspects of the game.”
The entire Team Lakay MMA stable is being trained by Iranian wrestling coach Ali Heydarabadi in order to plug the holes on their ground techniques, one that was evident when both Folayang, and Rey Docyogen fell against foreign opposition with superior moves during showdowns on the mat during the Asia Pacific promotion’s “Rise To Power” event last May 31, 2013.
