ONE Championship chairman gives Folayang fighting chance vs Shinya Aoki

SINGAPORE – ONE Championship chairman Chatri Sityodtong has joined the list of the few people who believe that Filipino fighter Eduard Folayang has a fighting chance against Japanese prodigy Shinya Aoki.

Folayang is set to challenge Aoki for the ONE Championship lightweight title in the main event of the “Defending Honor” card, which takes place at the 12,000-capacity Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore on November 11.

Although many cageside observers suggest that Aoki will easily cruise to a victory against a highly-regarded striker like Folayang, Sityodtong begs to disagree with the notion.

(READ: Shinya Aoki brushes off Folayang’s stand-up arsenal) 

Sityodtong sees the proud Japanese champion in a tough test against Folayang, who has reinvented himself by transitioning from a pure striker to an all-around mixed martial arts (MMA) competitor.

“Folayang has improved a lot,” he shared. “It’s going to be an all-out and very tough battle.”

Sityodtong lauded Folayang’s initiative to develop his wrestling arsenal that played a pivotal role in both of his matches against Japanese veteran Tetsuya Yamada and Australian stalwart Adrian Pang.

As evidenced in his last two ONE Championship outings, Folayang displayed on-point sprawls and his ability to sinuously execute sweeps and guards as well as showcase sturdy top control.

“His ground game is not as good as Aoki’s. But Folayang’s wrestling is no joke. He has really improved a lot, and his ground game is no joke,” Sityodtong stressed.

Sityodtong elucidated that if the strengths and the weaknesses of both competitors will be keenly evaluated, they are evenly matched.

According to the 45-year-old Thai MMA promoter, the deciding factor of the 5-round championship clash will be which fighter will be able to execute a better game plan effectively.

“It’s no secret that Shinya Aoki is one of the best submission grapplers in the world. It’s also no secret that Shinya Aoki has a strong chin. Meanwhile, Folayang has a strong chin. He hits like a truck. But his ground game is not going to be as good as Shinya Aoki’s grappling,” Sityodtong said.

“The game plan for both guys as you can see—one guy will try to take you down, while one guy will keep it standing up. So really it’s who will be the implementing the better game plan,” he added.

(READ: How Eduard Folayang can beat ONE FC champ Shinya Aoki) 

With grapplers getting the best out of the strikers most of the time, Sityodtong pointed out that the lightweight title tilt between Folayang and Aoki is a toss-up.

“It’s a 50-50 fight for me,” he quipped. – Rappler.com