TWO-TIME ONE Lightweight world champion Eduard Folayang dropped a heartbreaking split decision loss to Pieter Buist on Friday in ONE: Fire and Fury at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Dutch foe put his size advantage to good use, especially in the third round when he landed a solid head kick that rocked the Team Lakay bet.
Buist continued the attack even as Folayang took the fight back to the ground, but a late flurry seemingly sealed the deal in the tightly contested duel.
Folayang, 36, tasted his first loss in Manila since losing to Eddie Alvarez last year in the Lightweight Grand Prix and fell to a 21-8 slate.
Buist improved to 17-4.
Danny Kingad, however, had better fate, scoring a unanimous decision victory over Xie Wei in their flyweight showdown.
Kingad methodically dominated his Chinese foe. but action was halted in the third round after Kingad absorbed a headbutt and later on, an illegal knee to the head from Xie.
Still, Kingad was able to edge Xie to improve his record to a 14-2 record.
It was a big victory for the 23-year-old fighter after settling for bridesmaid honors in the ONE Flyweight Grand Prix to Demetrious Johnson last October in Tokyo.
Xie, meanwhile, dropped to 11-3.
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