Eduard Folayang will renew his rivalry with Japanese nemesis Shinya Aoki at ONE 172.
Former two-time ONE Lightweight MMA World Champion Eduard “Landslide”Folayang is fired up for his return to ONE Championship, especially with how well things have been going at Lions Nation MMA.
Before Folayang marks his return to face Shinya Aoki for the fourth time at ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang on March 23 at Saitama Super Arena in Japan, he watched in awe as Joshua Pacio unified his strap against old rival Jarred Brooks in February.
“Things have been looking up for us. Joshua just recently unified the world titles, Kevin [Belingon] also made a good account of himself in his return. As for me, I’m doing my best to catch up on my training because I stayed for about a week in Qatar,” he said.
“With two weeks left before Japan, I’m in the peak of my training right now. I’m pushing hard to make sure I come in there truly prepared.”
A Folayang win would certainly be big for a country that’s seeing a resurgence in the world of MMA. Not only did Pacio unify the belt, but Denice Zamboanga also won the ONE Interim Atomweight MMA World Championship last month.
And he’s excited to build on that momentum.
“That’s what we want to see now. And I’m happy that we’re on the cusp of doing it again,” Folayang said, referring to 2018 when the Philippines held five ONE world titles.
“The fact that we still have two World Champions means that Philippine MMA didn’t stagnate. It continues to evolve, and it continues to thrive.”
With that in mind, he promises to be at his best when he marks his return at the 37,000-seat arena in less than three weeks.
“There’s gonna be a ‘Landslide’ in Japan,” he said. “I’m gonna bring it there, and fans should expect nothing less on March 23.”