ONE boss pays tribute to Eduard Folayang ahead of ONE: X

ONE Championship chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong sang praises of former ONE lightweight world champion Eduard Folayang of Team Lakay ahead of ONE’s tenth anniversary special.

Folayang, 38, headlined the first ONE Championship card in 2011 against A-Sol Kwon where he won via unanimous decision. A decade later, he is still fighting and is set to face Muay Thai Legend John Wayne Parr in a Muay Thai bout at ONE: X on Saturday, March 26 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

“I am so grateful to Eduard. I still remember our very first event; no one heard about us, no one knew us, we did pack the stadium, but to watch Eduard headline I am forever grateful. I remember the fight poster, I remember how he won, and everything,” Sityodtong said during the ONE: X press conference.

“It’s a testament to his legendary status, why is he a legend? He has competed at the highest level in the world for a decade and he said immediately yes to fighting in four-ounce gloves striking only against a legend John Wayne Parr whose had 149 fights.”

Folayang, a three-time SEA Games gold medalist and an Asian Games silver medalist in Wushu, has not fought in an all-striking contest for over a decade. Sityodtong concedes that Folayang is in for a tough night against Parr but says the Filipino’s willingness to fight anyone, anywhere, is what makes him a living legend.

“That is a tall order for anybody. You look at Eduard he has never ever seen turned down a fight, never chosen opponents, he is a true warrior, and a true legend. There was no choice we had to have Eduard on the card.”

—JMB, GMA News