Eduard Folayang. –ONE CHAMPIONSHIP PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Five years ago, Eduard Folayang defeated Amir Khan for the ONE lightweight strap. Now Khan is looking for revenge and Folayang knows not to take the rematch lightly.
In an online media scrum on Friday, Filipino MMA legend Folayang said he will be putting his best foot forward against Khan for their rematch set on Sept. 30 at Singapore Indoor Stadium for ONE Fight Night 14: Stamp vs. Ham.
“I’m not relaxing. For us, when questions are asked, we just answer honestly so we are not relaxing and we are preparing well,” said Folayang in Filipino.
“I don’t take him lightly, as much as possible. I’m preparing the best version of myself when we meet again.”
The landscape of ONE Championship has changed immensely since their first clash in 2018.
Folayang went on a losing skid while also leaving his home stable of Team Lakay to form Lions Nations MMA.
Khan, meanwhile, has been on an up-and-down journey in the lightweight division.
In order to show dominance in the division as he did before, the former Team Lakay star said he would have to show a hungrier version of himself to subdue Khan once again.
“Of course, we want to show our improvement… For me, expect a different and hungrier Eduard. As much as possible, I want to bounce back and show that there’s more in me.”
Most recently, Folayang absorbed a loss against Edson Marques last year in One on Prime Video 5: De Ridder vs. Malykhin.