Photo from ONE Championship
Filipino MMA champion Eduard “Landslide” Folayang was named ONE Championship’s Fighter of the Year just a month after celebrating his first world title.
Folayang won the ONE lightweight belt, stopping Japanese legend Shinya Aoki in spectacular fashion in Singapore that capped the Baguio City native’s undefeated campaign in 2016.
READ: Worth the wait: Folayang cops ONE lightweight title, stops Aoki
The three-time SEA Games gold medalist in Wushu went 3-0 last year, scoring unanimous decision victories over Tetsuya Yamada and Adrian Pang before a second-round stoppage of Aoki.
It was a bounce back year for Folayang, who, prior to his unbeaten streak, suffered a brutal knockout loss to Timofey Nastyukhin in December 2014.
READ: Written off at first, Folayang pens own story with ONE title win
The 32-year-old Folayang topped women’s champion Angela Lee, featherweight king Marat Gafurov, bantamweight titleholder Bibano Fernandes and Ev Ting for the recognition.
A fast-rising star, the 20-year-old Lee won the atomweight title after outlasting Mei Yamaguchi last May. Lee totes a perfect 6-0 record.