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Martin Nguyen rooting for Folayang in comeback fight


SINGAPORE - Reigning ONE featherweight and lightweight champion Martin Nguyen will be rooting for his good friend Eduard Folayang in the latter's comeback fight against the unbeaten Kharun Atlangeriev on the undercard of 'ONE: Unstoppable Dreams' on May 18 at the Indoor Stadium in Singapore.

Nguyen and Folayang had to set their friendship aside this past November when the now two-division champion moved up in weight and defeated Folayang to take the lightweight title.

Both fighters went back to being friends shortly after the fight, and Nguyen is crossing his fingers that the Filipino MMA veteran will make a successful comeback.

"I love Eduard, we just spent some time together in Bali and it was good bonding time there as well. We got to train with each other while we're over there so I'm sure Eduard will come back. Our fight was a tricky one, I don't want to boast about it. I want the best for him in coming back from his loss. I'm sure he has the right state of mind, the right team and coach with him and with the Philippines behind him I'm sure he'll come back and recapture the title," told Nguyen, who revealed that he plans to go down to bantamweight until the end of his career.

"When it comes to business time which for both of us is fight time, I guess business is business. As we said during our conversation together before we signed the contract, we'll put our friendship aside for that night. Look, I love Eduard man, he's a good family guy, he is a good believer in Jesus Christ. I see Eduard as a fellow brother and I'll do whatever I can to support the guy."

ONE Championship chairman Chatri Sityodtong, meanwhile, hinted that a rematch between Folayang and Nguyen is a possibility should the Team Lakay veteran win impressively in his upcoming match.

Nguyen is open to the idea, citing that a rematch will be just business as usual while praying that Folayang would be more than impressive come fight night.

"At the end of the day, business is business. Friendship is friendship," Nguyen quipped. "I hope he does win drastically, he deserves nothing but the best. We'll see what happens." — BAP, GMA News

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