Eduard Folayang is a world champion again. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
The face of Philippine mixed martial arts once again has a golden shimmer.
Eduard Folayang became a two-time ONE World lightweight champion after taking Singaporean Amir Khan to school in ONE: Conquest of Champions card Friday at Mall of Asia Arena.
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The 35-year-old Folayang earned a unanimous decision win after a methodical madness that saw Khan cower in the face of arguably the greatest Filipino mixed martial artist of all time.
Folayang is the fourth world champion out of Team Lakay this year following Geje Eustaquio, Joshua Pacio and Kevin Belingon.
Rounds 1 through 5 became a master class for Folayang as he displayed an aggression that Khan (11-3) struggled to defend against.
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Folayang used the opening round as a gauge Khan but turned up the ante once the second round started and peppered the Singaporean with a mixture of knees, elbows, legs, and fists.
The Team Lakay senior caught Khan’s flying knee attempt and transitioned it to a beautiful takedown where he showered the 24-year-old out of Evolve MMA with elbows and punches.
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Khan had blood drip from his nose from the middle of the second round and that just became a target for Folayang who landed even more spinning elbows throughout the course of the match.
After losing the title to Nguyen in November of 2017, Folayang chalked up two straight victories to set up his title clash with Khan.