Folayang, Eustaquio to compete on ONE FC card in Malaysia

MANILA, Philippines – ONE Championship’s event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on January 29 continues to take shape as two prominent homegrown talents will don the Philippine colors on the card. 

Eduard Folayang makes his return inside the ONE cage against Japanese lightweight Tetsuya Yamada, while Geje Eustaquio battles Malaysian fighter Saiful Merican in a 3-round flyweight contest. 

Although Asia’s largest mixed martial arts (MMA) organization has yet to publicly announce those two bouts, a reliable source confirmed the fight bookings to Rappler. (READ: Eric Kelly faces Ev Ting on ONE FC’s card in Malaysia) 

Folayang (14-5) was last seen in action when he was brutally knocked out by Russian prospect Timofey Nastyukhin 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.

Unlike its western equal Ultimate Fighting Championship, ONE uses the international rule-set, which blends a combination of the best combat practices from all over the globe, permitting soccer kicks, stomps to the body and legs, and knee-strikes to a standing or grounded opponent. 

The knockout loss completely derailed Folayang’s opportunity to challenge Shinya Aoki for the ONE lightweight championship as he had compiled two-consecutive impressive wins, including a dominant performance against former titleholder Kotetsu Boku in May 2014. 

Folayang, who is widely regarded as the face of Philippine MMA, remains optimistic that he will put himself back on the winning track after suffering an excruciating knockout defeat.

“Well, that’s life. Even if you work hard for your dreams, there are still setbacks along the way. The lesson that I learned from that loss is how to redeem myself and how to get back to that level where I can fight again for the title and surely bring home the championship belt,” Folayang told Rappler in an April 2015 interview.

On the other hand, Yamada (15-3-2) makes his promotional debut under the ONE banner following a stellar run in the Japan-based Zst promotion, where he holds a 6-fight winning streak.

Meanwhile, Eustaquio (6-4) was originally penciled to face Yang Jian Bing in his comeback match this past December, but the Chinese combatant was rushed to the hospital before the official weigh-in and eventually passed away due to an acute myocardial infarction hours before fight night.

Eustaquio was aiming to rebound from a two-bout losing skid and has not won a single outing since outpointing Kentaro Watanabe in June 2014 to earn the opportunity to vie for the inaugural ONE flyweight championship against Adriano Moraes.

During that stretch, the 26-year-old Team Lakay representative yielded to Moraes via second-round submission in September 2014 before Anatpong Bunrad spoiled Eustaquio’s road back to another ONE flyweight title shot as the Thai kickboxer walked away with a split decision victory in April 2015.

In the other corner, Merican (4-2) is coming off a second-round stoppage triumph over compatriot Melvin Yeoh last October and has won 3 of his previous 4 ONE appearances. 

The unnamed ONE event is scheduled to take place at the 10,000-seater Stadium Negara in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. – Rappler.com