Igorot mixed martial artist Eduard “Landslide” Folayang, 35, of the Philippines and Pieter “The Archangel” Buist, 31, of the Netherlands will co-headline “ONE: Fire and Fury.” The former previously held the ONE Lightweight World Championship belt twice.
Featuring eight MMA fights and three Muay Thai matches, ONE Championship will hold “ONE: Fire and Fury” at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, Metro Manila, Philippines on January 31, 2020. In the co-main event of the evening, Folayang and Buist will battle it out in an MMA match in the lightweight division.
“I need to win my next fights,” Folayang said. “I need to be in shape. I need to reclaim what I have lost.”
“If I become the world champion for the third time, it will prove something to myself,” the Team Lakay fighter added. “There will be no doubt about my achievements. That is my aim.”
For Folayang, overcoming a difficult 2019 has only made him stronger and hungrier to climb back up the ladder in 2020. He said, “The best thing about martial arts is that we have learned that it is the process for us to be a better human being.”
“I always strive to be a better martial artist,” Folayang continued. “Setbacks help make us stronger to overcome more difficult challenges in life.”
In November 2019, Folayang got back into the win column by scoring a technical decision over Amarsanaa Tsogookhuu at “ONE: Masters of Fate.” The Igorot MMA fighter’s victory came on the heels of back-to-back submission defeats at the hands of former UFC Lightweight World Champion Eddie Alvarez and fellow former two-time ONE Lightweight World Champion Shinya Aoki.
“It was very challenging,” Folayang said. “I lost both via submission so that was definitely tough. That is life.”
“The first one was just a single mistake,” Folayang continued. “That loss to Shinya was because of a single mistake. Then, the next one was against Eddie Alvarez. I almost won but it slipped away.”
While all defeats can be tough to overcome mentally, the setback for Folayang against Alvarez was a little more difficult. The Team Lakay veteran said, “It hurt the most because I prepared well for that one but life must go on.”
Folayang has worked hard to make himself a better athlete through the battles. After a 2014 loss to Timofey Nastyukhin, he reeled off four consecutive wins, including a 2016 third round finish of Aoki to win the ONE World Title for the first time.
In 2017, Folayang secured his first title defense with a five-round decision over Ev Ting. He lost the belt to Martin Nguyen later that year, but again rebounded, winning three in a row including a decision over Amir Khan for the vacant belt.
Now, with the win over Tsogookhuu on his resume, Folayang will look to make it two in a row against Buist. Here is an open workout featuring the Igorot MMA fighter in 2018:
CONAN Daily 