Eduard ‘Landslide’ Folayang stands tall as ONE Championship’s Lightweight World Champion, but things could have turned out very differently.
The Filipino hero admits his career hinged on a decision made three years ago, after a devastating flying knee knockout loss to Russian Timofey Nastyukhin at ONE: WARRIOR’S WAY in Manila.
The defeat, the spectacular manner it came about, and the fact it occurred on home soil in front of his fellow countrymen, was incredibly tough for Folayang to stomach. After a career spent trying to battle his way to the top, he contemplated the possibility that he wouldn’t make it.
“After the knockout loss to Timofey, times became very hard,” he admitted. “That was a difficult one to get over. I thought I was done. The idea of giving up, the idea of retirement, kept creeping up inside my head.”
Unable to bounce straight back into another bout, Folayang took the decision to step away from the cage to train.
“As much as I wanted to get right back inside the cage, I was on the shelf,” he said. “Whenever you go through a loss like that, the months to follow will definitely be tough. I am going to be honest, I was ready to give up at that point.”
After a year out, Folayang confirmed his return to action in January 2016, having used his time away to refocus himself for a second charge towards the title. It was a decision that paid off.
“Something inside me kept me from walking away from that cage. It was like a fire burning deep inside. I cannot explain it,” he said.
“I wanted to prove them all wrong. I wanted to change everyone’s train of thought. They said that because I was Filipino, because I was Asian, that I did not have what it took to beat the best in the world in martial arts.
“I wanted to show them that if you believe in yourself and your capabilities, anything is possible.”
Driven by that desire to succeed, Folayang returned stronger, more well-rounded, and better prepared for a title tilt after spending time enhancing his wrestling skills at a host of gyms in the United States. It was the final piece in the jigsaw for the Filipino.
Upon his return, Folayang charged back into title contention with two unanimous decision victories over Tetsuya Yamada and Adrian Pang, putting him in pole position to take on defending lightweight titleholder Shinya Aoki, who had never lost under the ONE Championship banner.
“Deep inside I knew I had so much more to give,” he said. “I did not want to walk away from the sport and have the last thing people remember about me was getting knocked out like that. That is not the way I wanted to go.
“So I took some time off, gathered my thoughts, and reevaluated my career. I knew I had to go on as a martial artist. I knew I had to persevere. I knew the best of me was still deep inside somewhere.”
He was right. When Folayang faced Aoki in the main event of ONE: DEFENDING HONOR in Singapore Folayang produced the performance of a lifetime to dethrone the champion via third-round TKO. He snapped the Japanese legend’s nine-fight win streak, and claimed the ONE Lightweight World Title in the process.
The win not only saw him capture world championship gold, it also proved to himself and his doubters that he had the talent and perseverance to bounce back from adversity, improve his game, and return as a world champion.
By turning the negativity into positivity during his lowest moment as an athlete, Folayang laid the foundations on which he rebuilt his career as a world champion.
“I used that positive energy to fuel my drive to get back up on my feet and keep on competing,” he explained.
“I wanted to prove to everyone, to my fellow Filipinos, that with hard work, dedication and belief in oneself, that we can achieve anything.
“That is the message I wanted to send out to everyone who needed just a little bit of inspiration in whatever they were facing. I faced something just as difficult, and I survived. I wanted to show everyone that they could, too.”
Folayang cemented his status as the premier lightweight in ONE Championship with a successful first title defence against Ev Ting in Manila at ONE: KINGS OF DESTINY in April this year.
Now he faces a new challenge in the form of current ONE Featherweight World Champion Martin “The Situ-Asian” Nguyen, who steps up a weight class to challenge “Landslide” for his lightweight belt at ONE: LEGENDS OF THE WORLD in Manila on 10 November.
The contest presents an opportunity for Folayang to return to his homeland to defend his belt in front of his own fans for a second time, and to inspire his countrymen with another thrilling performance.
“Representing the Philippines and showcasing my skills is an honour for me,” he said. “Filipinos are truly world-class. We have the ability to hang with the best, no matter what the field.
“Whether it is martial arts, business or medicine, Filipinos are capable and amazing. I wanted to prove this point.
“There were a lot of people who doubted my skills, they doubted if I was talented enough to compete against the world’s best.”
After the best 18 months of his martial arts career, few doubt him now.
