Eduard Folayang vs Antonio Caruso in ONE: Inside the Matrix. ONE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Pieter Buist has had experience fighting both Eduard Folayang and Antonio Caruso, making him the best person to digest the recently concluded bout between the two lightweights in ONE Championship.
Caruso dominated Folayang for the majority of the three-round affair and Buist said that the former lightweight champion entered the ring without the mental edge that he’s always had.
“It looked like Eduard was missing some batteries. Against me, he was more aggressive, more outgoing. And now he was hesitating. I think he buckled under the pressure of ‘yeah he has to win this fight, because if he doesn’t win, he must stop’,” said Buist who’s the no.3 ranked lightweight in the promotion.
“You know, for a fighter, a lot of people don’t understand, especially those who don’t fight. It’s around 85 to 90 percent mental. The rest is physical. So if mentally, you’re not there, you will lose.”
The 5-foot-11 Caruso stands two inches taller than Folayang and he used that frame of his to keep his distance against the Filipino icon.
Though Folayang managed to close the distance in the second, it was Caruso’s right uppercut that found the button sending the Team Lakay senior crashing to the mat.
“No matter how strong physically you are, for all the fighters, it’s the same. It’s mental warfare always. It begins with mental warfare and ends with mental warfare,” said Buist, who beat Folayang last February,
Buist is set to face no.4 lightweight Timofey Nastyukhin on Friday at Singapore Indoor Stadium for ONE: Inside the Matrix II.
“The physical part is punching, beating, choking, you know. I think mentally, he wasn’t there. But Caruso is a good fighter. I fought him also. He’s a true warrior. He comes to fight. For him, it was the same thing. I think Caruso was, mentally, better prepared than Eduard.”