Eduard Folayang is slowly getting back up in the division he once ruled after scoring an impressive unanimous decision win over Russian Aziz Pahrudinov in the ONE: Reign of Kings Friday at Mall of Asia Arena.
The former ONE lightweight champion took his second straight win after his shock loss to Martin Nguyen and bumped his record to 20-6.
Although falling victim to Pahrudinov’s takedowns early in the first round, Folayang was quick to turn the tide around.
Folayang methodically targeted Pahrudinov’s left leg subsequently taking away the Russian’s takedown ability.
By the end of the third round, Pahrudinov (20-1) couldn’t control the match in the ground allowing Folayang to dictate the fight standing up.
Pahrudinov managed to connect on some stiff punches late in the fight but Folayang had the bout already in the bag by that point.