ONE Championship chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong agreed that Eduard Folayang got the short end of the stick and got dealt with an early stoppage in his match against Edson Marques at ONE Fight Night 5: De Ridder vs Malykhin.
Chatri on Eduard Folayang loss
But the executive argued that things must change on the side of the 39-year-old if he still wants to compete at this top level.
"I think it's an early stoppage but at the same time, I also think that Eduard, if he doesn't change his fighting style, I'm a little concerned," he said.
Folayang's second-round technical knockout defeat to Marques on Saturday was the fifth straight mixed martial arts loss for the former ONE Lightweight World Champion as he continued to garner doubts on his continued longevity inside the ONE Circle.
And even Sityodtong couldn't help but feel the same, saying, "Given where he is in his career... I thought he was winning the fight, then he got a little bit reckless towards the end and that cost him the fight."
Though Sityodtong isn't one to answer if a rematch between the two is on the table, he indicated that there must be a deep rethinking on the side of Team Lakay in terms of Folayang's status -- on whether he'll stick with mixed martial arts or engage in feature fights next.
"That's the thing with martial arts, there's many other martial arts disciplines he can compete in. It's really up to Eduard," he said.
"I need to talk with [Team Lakay coach] Mark [Sangiao]. It's too early for me to say."
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