Former ONE Lightweight MMA World Champion Eduard “Landslide” Folayang will have to throw friendship out the window when he battles his long-time rival Shinya Aoki for the fourth time.
The two former divisional kings will face each other for the fourth time of their legendary careers in one of the featured bouts of ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang on March 23 inside Saitama Super Arena in Japan.
Putting those pleasantries and his fondness for Aoki aside will for surely be hard, but Folayang knows it’s part of the career they’ve chosen.
“Like I said earlier, it’s hard to fight your friend, but as professionals, we have to put aside our friendship for a moment in order to perform well,” Folayang told the MMA Super Fan.
"So when we say added motivation or added pressure, it is there. It will depend on how I will be able to hold it together so that I can show everything I know in the MMA world against him for the last time."
Folayang's last stand?
The careers of both men have been intertwined since at least 2016, when Folayang shocked the world and took the biggest win of his career.
Facing a red-hot Aoki who had won his last nine fights, the Filipino ended that winning streak by stopping the Japanese man in the third round.
Aoki got back at him by winning the next two fights via submission, and since then the two have developed a genuine friendship. Aoki even visited Folayang several times in Baguio City, where the Filipino showed him the way of the mountains, from the food to how they train.
But given a chance to continue their rivalry with a fourth fight, Folayang promises that he’s coming in still looking to prove something.
"In a match, no matter what sport it is, you can’t really take away the competition aspect of it,” he said.
“For me, there is still competition for both of us. He wants to prove something, I want to prove something as well."
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