Eduard Folayang booked for ONE FC’s Macau card in August

MANILA, Philippines – After inking a new exclusive deal with ONE Championship, homegrown talent Eduard Folayang will have a spot in the organization’s first trip to Macau, China on August 13.

The 32-year-old Baguio City native is set to fight Australian fighter Adrian Pang in a potential title eliminator on the undercard of ONE Championship’s “Heroes of the World” event, which takes place at Venetian Hotel’s 15,000-seater Cotai Arena. Three other Filipino fighters – Honorio Banario, Jimmy Yabo and Joshua Pacio – will also appear on the card in separate fights.

Folayang (15-5) was last seen in action when he triumphantly returned to the ONE Championship cage with a unanimous decision win over Japanese lightweight Tetsuya Yamada this past January.

The 5-foot-9 Team Lakay representative turned back the clock against Yamada, pummeling his opponent with his deadly striking arsenal and efficiently utilizing his takedown defense to claim his first win since being knocked out by Russian prospect Timofey Nastyukhin in December 2014.

In addition, Folayang was able to drop Yamada with a left hook in the first round and employed looping right hands, spinning back kicks and an effective sprawl that forced his Japanese counterpart to desperately shoot for takedowns in the latter part of the bout.

Widely regarded as the face of Philippine mixed martial arts, Folayang recently signed a two-year contract extension with ONE Championship.

Folayang has been a ONE Championship competitor since the company’s inception in 2011 and has fought 8 of his last 10 outings under the promotion’s umbrella.

In the other corner, Pang (22-8-2) is currently riding high on a 3-fight winning streak and has only gone the distance 7 times in his professional career, owning 10 submission victories and 5 knockout triumphs.

Pang, 38, made a statement in his last two matches under the ONE Championship banner, submitting Vincent Latoel with a third-round guillotine choke in December 2014 before defeating Peter Davis by a 48-second technical knockout in October 2015.

The winner of the 3-round showdown between Folayang and Pang could earn a date with reigning ONE Championship lightweight titleholder Shinya Aoki.

Banario seeks second straight lightweight win

Leading the pack of additional Pinoy combatants is former ONE Championship featherweight titleholder Banario, who is set to lock horns with Hong Kong’s Eddie Ng.

Banario (9-6) is coming off a unanimous decision victory over compatriot Vaughn Donayre this past April.

The 26-year-old native of Mankayan, Benguet took the gamble to move up to lightweight to snap his 5-fight losing skid.

Banario’s decision to leave the featherweight division turned out to be a blessing on his part as he had his hand raised in triumph for the first time since February 2013 when he captured the inaugural ONE Championship featherweight belt against Eric Kelly.

In the other corner, Ng (7-3) has not competed for over a year and is suffering from a two-bout losing skid.

Ng tasted a first-round stoppage setback at the hands of Vincent Latoel in May 2014 before yielding to Ariel Sexton via second-round submission in May 2015.

The 30-year-old Hong Kong native is looking to bounce back at the expense of Banario, who aims for his second-straight win at lightweight.

Meanwhile, Banario’s Team Lakay colleague Pacio takes on Thailand’s Kritsada Kongsrichai in a 3-round contest.

Pacio is undefeated in 7 professional matches and won his ONE Championship debut last April by scoring a second-round technical knockout of Rabin Catalan.

On the other hand, Kongsrichai (4-2) has never gone the distance in his last 6 outings, having two knockout wins and two submission victories to his own credit. 

The last Filipino on the fight card is Yabo (5-3, 1 NC), who faces Chinese journeyman Ma Jia Wen (2-2). – Rappler.com