It’s make-or-break time for Eduard Folayang

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Eduard Folayang sees his return to action inside the ONE Championship cage as a make-or-break junction in his 8-year mixed martial arts (MMA) career.

Widely considered the face of Philippine MMA, Folayang is coming off a painful loss to Russian prospect Timofey Nastyukhin, who brutally knocked him out in their December 2014 lightweight encounter.

Nastyukhin turned the lights off on Folayang with a flying knee and then nailed two soccer kicks on the ground to coerce referee Yuji Shimada to stop the action at 3:11 of the first round.

“We can’t avoid setbacks. It’s mixed martial arts. This sport is unpredictable,” Folayang told Rappler.

The excruciating defeat at the hands of Nastyukhin compelled Team Lakay head coach Mark Sangiao to put him on the shelf for over a year to recover.

After 13 months of sitting on the sidelines, the 32-year-old native of Baguio City, Benguet is set to have his comeback bout as he faces Japanese lightweight Tetsuya Yamada on the undercard of ONE: Clash of Heroes, which takes place at the 10,000-seater Stadium Negara in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Friday, January 29.

According to Folayang, his 3-round bout against Yamada will serve as a standard of measure to determine if he is still within the top-caliber rank in the sport.

“Yes, I will gauge my performance. I have been out for so long, but I am still hungry. I still have the heart to compete,” he said.

In 19 professional outings, Folayang is not new to a knockout setback as he was finished in 3 of his 5 losses.

It only took 8 seconds for Guamanian standout Jon Tuck to beat Folayang by landing a right straight on the Filipino fighter’s chin in November 2009.

His second knockout defeat came at the hands of Lowen Tynanes, who was relatively unknown when he locked horns with Folayang at Universal Reality Combat Championship’s tenth anniversary event in December 2012.

Tynanes, who is a highly-touted wrestler in the sport, immediately took the fight on the mat and exposed Folayang’s weakness.

One swipe of an elbow from Tynanes opened a huge cut on Folayang’s right eye as blood smeared all over his face, prompting referee Joey Lepiten to halt the contest early in the first round upon doctor’s recommendation.

The third one occurred versus Nastyukhin, who got the job done by rendering Folayang unconscious with a flying knee and two follow-up soccer kicks to the temple.

Although he fell into a dreadful nightmare on several occasions, Folayang repeatedly proved his worth as a remarkable prizefighter by pulling off triumphant comebacks.

Following his quick loss to Tuck, Folayang impressively won 6-straight matches, with 3 coming by way of stoppage.

Meanwhile, Folayang redeemed himself from his bloody defeat to Tynanes by trouncing Vincent Latoel and former ONE lightweight titleholder Kotetsu Boku.

When asked if it will be the same story on Friday night, Folayang replied, “This is life. It’s not all about winning, but it’s about living a life with a purpose. In life, there are ups and down. But still, you don’t have to give up.” – Rappler.com