1. Eduard Ayangwa Folayang was born on November 22,1983 and is a Filipino professional mixed martial artist and wushu practitioner who competes in the Lightweight division of ONE Championship, where he is a two-time ONE Lightweight World Champion.
43 Facts About Eduard Folayang
1. 2.
Eduard Folayang competed for Universal Reality Combat Championship, where he is a former URCC Welterweight Champion.
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Eduard Folayang has won several international Wushu tournaments, including a gold medal at the 2011 Southeast Asian Games which he won with a spinning back kick KO in the final, a silver medal in the 2006 Doha Asian Games, and bronze medals in both the 2005 World Wushu Championship and the 2002 Busan Asian Games.
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Eduard Folayang's parents are natives of Mountain Province and is of Igorot descent.
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Eduard Folayang endured a very tough childhood with his family living in dire poverty for much of his youth.
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Eduard Folayang even lost five of his siblings due to a lack of access to healthcare.
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Eduard Folayang started training wushu and boxing when he was 16 years old under the tutelage of head coach Tony Candelaria, who helped him to improve his skills and discipline.
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Eduard Folayang graduated from the University of the Cordilleras in 2006, and passed his exam to become a teacher.
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Eduard Folayang began teaching English and Physical Education, but six months in, decided to quit to pursue his dreams in martial arts.
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On June 30,2007, Eduard Folayang made his professional debut in the Universal Reality Combat Championship, the biggest mixed martial arts promotion in the Philippines.
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Eduard Folayang won by submission due to elbows in the first round.
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On December 1,2012, Eduard Folayang returned in the promotion facing Lowen Tynanes.
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Eduard Folayang won the match via guillotine choke early in the first round.
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On July 14,2010, Eduard Folayang fought Mongolian Bao She Ri Gu Leng in a lightweight fight, with the latter's Superfight lightweight title at stake; the event was held at the Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore.
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On October 16,2010, Eduard Folayang fought South African Muay Thai specialist Vuyisile Colossa at Martial Combat 12.
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Eduard Folayang won a decision after scoring multiple takedowns in the first two rounds even though Colossa dominated the third round.
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Eduard Folayang was scheduled to make his ONE Championship debut against Muay Thai champion-turned MMA fighter Ole Laursen at ONE FC: Champion vs Champion at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on September 3,2011.
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On July 18,2012, Eduard Folayang defeated Felipe Enomoto via unanimous decision at ONE FC: Pride of a Nation in Manila, Philippines.
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Eduard Folayang was later replaced by former foe Ole Laursen who was again replaced by Kotetsu Boku who eventually became the first ever ONE FC Lightweight Champion.
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On May 31,2013, Eduard Folayang fought UFC and WEC veteran Kamal Shalorus at ONE FC 9: Rise to Power.
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Eduard Folayang faced Russian fighter Timofey Nastyukhin on December 5,2014, at ONE FC 23: Warrior's Way.
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Eduard Folayang won the bout and the title via TKO in the third round.
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On November 10,2017, Eduard Folayang lost the lightweight title at ONE 61: Legends of the World to Martin Nguyen via second-round KO, Nguyen would then vacate the title due to injury.
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Eduard Folayang recaptured the lightweight title by defeating Khan via unanimous decision.
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On March 31,2019, Eduard Folayang lost the lightweight title again in a rematch with Shinya Aoki at ONE Championship: A New Era via technical submission.
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Eduard Folayang's next fight was at ONE Championship: Dawn of Heroes on August 2,2019.
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Eduard Folayang faced former UFC and Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez.
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Eduard Folayang lost the fight via submission in the first round.
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Eduard Folayang next faced Amarsanaa Tsogookhuu at ONE Championship: Masters Of Fate on November 8,2019.
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On January 31,2020, Eduard Folayang lost to Buist by split decision.
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Eduard Folayang faced Antonio Caruso at ONE Championship: Inside the Matrix on October 30,2020.
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Eduard Folayang was to make a comeback on April 28,2021, against former UFC middleweight contender Yoshihiro Akiyama at ONE on TNT 4.
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Eduard Folayang lost the bout in the first round via armbar.
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Eduard Folayang faced Zhang Lipeng at ONE Championship: Battleground 2 on August 13,2021.
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Eduard Folayang made his ONE Super Series debut against John Wayne Parr under Muay Thai rules at ONE: X on March 26,2022.
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Eduard Folayang faced Edson Marques on December 3,2022, at ONE on Prime Video 5.
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Eduard Folayang lost the fight via technical knockout in the second round.
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Eduard Folayang faced Amir Khan in a rematch on September 30,2023, at ONE Fight Night 14.
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Eduard Folayang won the fight via knockout in the third round, snapping a five-fight losing streak.
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Eduard Folayang faced Shinya Aoki in a tetralogy bout on March 23,2025, at ONE 172.
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Eduard Folayang lost the fight via armbar in round one.
42.
Eduard Folayang left Team Lakay Wushu, his longtime training camp in Baguio City, on March 10,2023 due to undisclosed reasons.
43.
On June 24,2023, it was announced that Eduard Folayang had formed his own team, Lions Nation MMA, with fellow ex-Team Lakay members Kevin Belingon, Joshua Pacio, Danny Kingad, Jeremy Pacatiw, Stephen Loman and Honorio Banario.