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MANILA, Philippines – Former two-time ONE lightweight champion and Filipino mixed martial arts (MMA) superstar Eduard “Landslide” Folayang will finally return to the ONE Championship Circle later this month.
The 36-year veteran will see action against rising lightweight star Antonio “The Spartan” Caruso of Australia in a three-round encounter at ONE: Inside the Matrix on October 30.
The venue for the event has yet to be officially announced by ONE Championship.
Folayang guarantees that he will be ready for the fight, as he and his brothers in the famous Lakay Team have spent their time locked up wisely, continuing to hone their skills to be ready for any opportunity.
“I am very excited to be back in action, especially after having to wait so long locked up,” said Folayang, who trained in Baguio City with his Lakay teammates. “We have been anxiously anticipating when we will be able to return to competition, and I am glad that moment has finally come.”
“We are absolutely excited and training very hard right now to put on a good show,” he said.
Folayang admitted that the past few months have been “very difficult” as they deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. The health crisis initially posed challenges for the team in their training, but they never set foot on the job.
“We use our time to hone our tools and skills,” he said.
Before the pandemic, Folayang struggled in 2019, a lousy 1-2 on the calendar year. He began by handing over his ONE lightweight title to Japanese rival Shinya Aoki at ONE’s first show in Tokyo. He then lost to former UFC lightweight king Eddie Alvarez in Manila.
Although Folayang came back with an impressive decision win over Amarsanaa Tsogookhuu later in the year, Folayang suffered another setback last January, falling by split decision to third-ranked lightweight Pieter Buist.
Therefore, Folayang knows that his next performance will be crucial to his career and he is putting himself in the best position to win.
“I can say that the results of these upcoming fights are very important to us as we haven’t gotten the results that we wanted recently. So now, we are really aiming for the best possible results,” Folayang said.
“We are fully focused on doing whatever it takes to achieve victory at the moment. It will not be easy, but we are ready to do our best. We want to go in with confidence.”
Against Caruso, Folayang faces a former boxer and competitive grappling champion. Caruso honed his skills with legendary coach Henri Hooft alongside top-level training partners, including ONE world champions Aung La N Sang and Martin Nguyen.
He has a 7-1 professional record and is looking to improve on that by defeating a big name at Folayang.
Landslide said it is taking Caruso’s challenge seriously.
“Antonio Caruso is a strong fighter. I’ve seen his previous fights. I don’t think he’s a guy you can take lightly,” Folayang said. “Of course I’m doing everything I can to prepare for his style.”
“As usual, it will be about dictating the pace and getting him to fight my fight.” “You can’t underestimate anyone in this game, so I’m not going to start with him. I’ve been training for a long time, even if I didn’t know who my opponent was going to be.”
“I just wanted to prepare physically, and I feel very strong right now. Mentally, I am focused and I go straight to where I need to be.”
