Members of the highly-touted Team Lakay added yet another accolade to their resume after being feted in the 5th Philippines Martial Arts Hall of Fame (PhilMaHof).
Last Tuesday, 29 April, head coach Mark Sangiao, ONE Strawweight World Champion Joshua “The Passion” Pacio, and former ONE World Champions Eduard “The Landslide” Folayang, Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon, and Geje “The Gravity” Eustaquio received the Sinag Tala Award at the PhilMaHoF gala.
The event, which was held at the Casa Ibarra inside the Mall Of Asia compound in Pasay City. serves as recognition to exemplary martial arts teachers and practitioners in the Philippines, as well as around the world.
With Team Lakay’s exceptional 2018 on the global stage through ONE Championship, the awards come as no surprise.
For Folayang, recognitions like this one push them to strive harder.
“I’m just happy because this is the fruits of our labor. They’re beginning to see what we’re doing in the world of martial arts,” the former ONE Lightweight World Champion said.
“This is very important because you see your fellow athletes, from different disciplines, appreciate what we’re doing for the country.”
The PhilMaHof was founded in 2012 by the late Garitony Nicolas, who was known as the founder of Modern Arnis Filipino Martial Arts.
Seeing how far they have come in the world of mixed martial arts, Folayang vows to stay away from complacency and instead use recognitions like this to remind himself of Team Lakay’s true goal.
That goal is to continue to set the bar high as an athlete and as an individual.
“Of course, this becomes a motivation to do more and to set a better example as an athlete,” Folayang explained.
“Knowing that there are a lot of people rooting for us, it would only motivate us in the future to give out inspiring performances.”