MANILA – Filipino mixed martial arts star Eduard Folayang will not waste a rare opportunity to battle former UFC star Eddie Alvarez in the ONE: Dawn of Heroes tonight at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The Baguio City native is hoping to use this match to redeem himself after failing to defend his ONE lightweight championship earlier this year with a stunning defeat to Japanese Shinya Aoki.
“I lost my belt (and) that chapter of my career has closed. It’s time to write another chapter of my journey,” Folayang said. “(Alvarez) says this isn’t the right time, but I believe it’s God’s time.”
He added: “I was very excited when I heard the news that Eddie was next to me. He’s one of the most well-known martial artists in the world. It’s a huge honor for me to be able to test my skills against him.”
The 34-year-old Folayang, however, expects to have his hands full. Alvarez is also on a comeback trail. Timofey Nastyukhin knocked him out cold in the first round of their Lightweight Grand Prix quarterfinal showdown in Japan.
“Eduard throws a lot of surprise attacks. Ideally, you take him down and none of that works. Take him to the ground and nothing he’s done for his whole life works. We’ve seen what happened with Aoki, he was lost on the ground,” Alvarez said.
The winner of the bout between Folayang and Alvarez moves on to face Turkish sensation Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev in the ONE lightweight world Grand Prix Finals./PN
