ONE: Folayang rues missed chances vs Caruso

Eduard Folayang vs Antonio Caruso in ONE: Inside the Matrix. ONE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Eduard Folayang knew that he only had a slim chance of winning in his lightweight bout against Antonio Caruso, but he couldn’t find the perfect opening for that one shot.

Losing in the first two rounds, Folayang eyed that knockout against the taller Australian, but just as in the first two rounds it was Caruso’s length that still proved the difference.

Folayang said that he wanted to finish the match in the third with one knockout blow but couldn’t pull it off, eventually losing to Caruso via unanimous decision at ONE: Inside the Matrix.

“I looked for it but I wasn’t able to execute it well,” said Folayang in the post-fight virtual press conference Friday from Singapore Indoor Stadium.

“There’s really some assessment on myself and I really need to see what went wrong and as I said before I really need to see what’s wrong. It’s my mistake and I wasn’t able to cope with it.”

Caruso, who’s listed at 5-foot-11, had no trouble landing his jab against the 5-foot-9 Folayang and a right uppercut found the Filipino’s jaw in the second round sending Folayang down to the mat.

Folayang (22-10) did become more aggressive in the third but an accidental headbutt derailed his momentum and allowed Caruso to successfully shoot for a takedown.

With just seconds left, Folayang tried for a guillotine choke but Caruso (8-1) managed to survive the last gasp submission attempt.

Nevertheless, the 36-year-old Folayang was happy he was able to fight again after nine months.

“There’s a lot of adjustments but it’s good to be back again,” said Folayang. “It’s not the result we wanted.”