MMA: Champion no more, as Folayang stunned in KO loss

It was a tough night for Filipino MMA fans after one of their champions lost his crown on Friday night.

Eduard Folayang was knocked out cold when he was tagged with a huge overhand right by his challenger, Martin Nguyen, in the main event of ONE: Legends of the World at Mall of Asia Arena.

"Landslide" was actually winning the bout in the opening round with his variety of kicks and punches.

But Nguyen, whom Folayang considers a friend, was able to sneak in the winning shot while evading Folayang's spinning back fist.

"I know he's coming with spinning back fist and it's up to me to adjust," said Nguyen. "Actually I was trying to go for a takedown by my instinct took over and it turned into an overhand right."

Right after impact, Folayang fell unconscious to the ground.

After the fight was called to a halt, Nguyen immediately went to Folayang and checked his friend out of concern.

"Honestly, it really hurt. Because I never ever wanted to see someone I know and like going through that. Unfortunately, it's martial artist versus martial artist and I couldn't help to have a little bit of hurt feeling for Eduard when got knocked out," he said.

Kevin Belingon, meanwhile, set himself for a title rematch against ONE bantam king Bibiano Fernandes by putting Kevin "Old Boy" Chung away via unanimous decision.

Belingon punished Chung with some of the heaviest shots of the night, but the South Korean grappler was able to threaten the "Silencer" with an arm lock in the second round.

The Team Lakay fighter, however, was able to escape Chung's grip and engaged the South Korean on stand-up for the remainder of the fight.

Gina "Conviction" Iniong continued her winning ways in the ONE Championship atomweight division by dominating her Indonesian foe.

Iniong secured a sidemount against Priscilla Hertati Lumban Gaol then trapped the Indonesian with a crucifix.

From there, she peppered the defenseless Priscilla with repeated strikes until the referee called a halt and awarded the victory to Iniong in the 2nd round.

Joshua Pacio made a successful comeback 3 months after his defeat to Hayato Suzuki by knocking out Roy Doliguez in their strawweight fight.

While mixing it up against Doliguez, Pacio spun around and connected a back fist to Doliguez's temple rendering the latter nearly unconscious in the 2nd round.

In the co-main event, Danny Kingad suffered his first career defeat when he got submitted by reigning flyweight champion Adriano Moraes.

Kingad initially had success warding off Moraes from scoring a takedown, but the Brazilian eventually found an opening and pinned the younger fighter to the ground.

Once on the mat, Moraes patiently worked his way to secure Kingad's back until he trapped the Filipino with a rear naked choke.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Belingon shines for Team Lakay in ONE FC

MANILA, Philippines -- Kevin "The Silencer" Belingon saved what could have been a disastrous night for Team Lakay by hammering out a dominant victory against former bantamweight contender Koetsu Okazaki in "ONE FC: Warrior's Way" at the Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena on Friday.

Belingon banked on lightning-fast kicks and quick hands to force the former Shooto champion on his heels for most part of their 3-round fight.

The judges awarded the Filipino with a unanimous decision win.

His victory was the shining light for Team Lakay, which sustained two defeats in fighters Honorio Banario and Eduard Folayang.

Banario was forced to tap out when he was caught with a rear-naked choke by undefeated Brazilian Herbert Burns. Folayang, meanwhile, got knocked out when he engagged in a slugfest with heavy handed Russian Timofey Nastyukhin.

After spending most of the first round feeling out his opponent, Belingon connected with a shot to the head that sent Okazaki reeling in the cage. They eventually landed on the ground where the Filipino pummeled the Japanese with hammer fists.

Belingon pressed the action in the second stanza and forced Okazaki to engage. While the Japanese was having some success connecting his overhand rights, Belingon fired back with legs kicks and fists that resulted in 2 knockdowns.

The Silencer once again forced Okazaki's back to the ground in the final round when he landed serious blows and several soccer kicks.

The Japanese nearly caught him with a choke while on the mat but Belingon outmaneuvered Okazaki and was able to get a partial mount. From there, he fed Okazaki with fists and elbows until the final bell.

It was a fitting rebound for Belingon, who lost to Dae Hwan Kim prior this fight.

In his 146-pound catchweight bout, former featherweight champion Banario had a difficult battle against undefeated Burns. Banario made the mistake of going for a takedown against Burns, who is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu expert. Immediately, the Brazilian went for the Filipino's back for a rear naked choke.

"The Rock" valiantly tried to fight his way out of the choke, but Burns was able to get his arm deep into Banario's neck to force the Filipino to tap out, 1:01 minute left in the 1st round.

It was Banario's fourth-straight defeat since losing the featherweight title to Koji Oishi in 2013.

Folayang, meanwhile, opened his fight by connecting a looping left to the face, but Nastyukhin showed that he could give as he could take. Seconds later, they were throwing haymakers at each other.

Nastyukhin, however, was connecting more. He later sprang with a flying knee that hit Folayang's chin. The Filipino went down and was hit with a soccer kick to the side of the head.

The referee saw enough and immediately stopped the bout.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com