Pieter Buist, Eduard Folayang (©ONE Championship)

Pieter “The Archangel” Buist, 32, of Breda, Netherlands is a common denominator Eduard “Landslide” Folayang, 35, of Baguio City, Philippines and Antonio “The Spartan” Caruso, 29, of Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. On October 30, 2020, Folayang and Caruso will battle it out in the lightweight division at “ONE: Inside the Matrix” in Singapore.

On October 25, 2019, Buist defeated Caruso via unanimous decision at “ONE: Dawn of Valor” at the Istora Senayan in Jakarta, Indonesia. On January 31, 2020, the Ghanaian-Dutch mixed martial artist defeated Folayang via split decision at “ONE: Fire and Fury” at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, Metro Manila, Philippines.

On October 26, 2020, I asked Buist who he thought will win the upcoming lightweight bout between Folayang and Caruso. The Breda native simply answered, “(I think) Eduard (will win) because he’s more experienced but I don’t count Caruso out.”

Buist currently ranks third among the lightweight contenders of ONE Championship. The number one contender Iuri Lapicus, 24, of Italy and Moldova will challenge ONE Lightweight World Champion Christian “The Warrior” Lee, 22, of Singapore at “ONE: Inside the Matrix.”

Featuring six MMA matches, four of which are title bouts, “ONE: Inside the Matrix” will be the first sporting event in Singapore that allows for a limited live audience since it moved into the second phase of its reopening. ONE Championship has added 250 in-person Superfan ticket packages, which are now on sale to watch the event live at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore.

The lightweight contest between Folayang and Caruso is the first bout of the evening. The latter said, “A quick fight is a good fight.”

“The quicker we can get in and out, the better but at the end of the day. we’d have to go in there and hey, Eduard’s a tough guy,” Caruso continued. He added that would like to take Folayang out as quick as possible but at the same time, he is ready to go the full distance with his Filipino opponent.

Folayang noted that anything can happen at “ONE: Inside the Matrix.” He said, “You can expect  it to be short or long.

“It doesn’t matter as long as you witness it,” Folayang. “I think that’s the suspense of the matter, you know. When you watch in on October 30, the decision will be there.”