ONE Chairman announces Folayang vs. Khan for ONE lightweight title in Manila

ONE Championship chairman Chatri Sityodtong announced on social media Monday that former ONE lightweight champion Eduard Folayang of Baguio City's Team Lakay is slated to battle Singaporean striker Amir Khan for the vacant ONE lightweight title on November 23 at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.

The 34-year-old Folayang, who is touted as the face of Philippine mixed martial arts, lost the strap to ONE featherweight champion Martin Nguyen in November last year. But Nguyen, unable to defend the title, has decided to vacate the gold instead.

Eduard Folayang

"I am excited to announce that Eduard Folayang and Amir Khan will face each other for the ONE lightweight world championship on November 23 in Manila! The stakes could not be any higher for both warriors in what will be the biggest fight of their careers," Sityodtong wrote on his Facebook account.

"Eduard wants to reclaim his title and go down as the greatest Filipino martial artist in history. Amir wants to become Singapore's first homegrown world champion in history, and stamp his legacy as the greatest Singaporean martial artist the world has ever seen."

The winner of the upcoming showdown, according to Sityodtong, will then have to defend the title in ONE's debut event in Japan next year. The number one contender to the world lightweight title will be decided when former ONE lightweight champion Shinya Aoki takes on Ev Ting this weekend in Bangkok.

"On a related note, we did debate making the October 6 bout between Ev Ting and Shinya Aoki a world title bout, but decided against it," told Sityodtong.

"They have both spent months preparing for a 3 round non-title fight, and it would have been unfair to ask them to do a 5 round title fight on such short notice. Barring any injuries or unforeseen circumstances, I fully expect the winner between Ev and Shinya to face the winner between Eduard and Amir in Tokyo." — LA, GMA News