ONE athletes never rest on their laurels even if they are preparing for a match or not.
That’s the case for Lions Nation MMA’s Eduard “Landslide” Folayang and Joshua “The Passion” Pacio, who recently got a chance to train with world-class boxers Marlon Tapales and Carl Jammes Martin.
Picking each other’s brains, they maximized their time as they helped each other in their respective endeavors.
For Folayang, he sees a lot of similarities with him and Tapales, who is gearing up for a match against World Boxing Organization (WBO) and World Boxing Council (WBC) super bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue.
“I was in the same situation seven years ago,” he said, harking back to his career-defining bout against Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki where he first won the ONE Lightweight MMA World Championship.
“Alam na alam ko yung pinagdadaanan niya as an athlete, lalo kapag ang turing sayo ay isang underdog. Hindi maiiwasan na makaramdam ng pressure, pero at the same, maaari ka rin makakuha rito ng motivation. It’s all about perspective, lalo alam mo yung malaking nakataya sa laban.”
Pacio is also confident in Tapales’ chances despite the odds favoring heavily against the latter, taking cues from how Filipinos have fared against Japanese in different combat sports.
“May mga Japanese champion din tayong nakalaban noon, pero napatunayan natin that we can rise above the odds. On paper, ikaw man ang ay underdog but that does not mean that you’re not capable of winning. Inside the ring or in the cage, it’s 50-50,” said the former ONE Strawweight World Champion.
One thing working in Tapales’ favor is his relentless approach to his training camp, a factor which both Folayang and Pacio believe will be the key to his success in his December bout.
“Fair naman gamitin ang stats and past performances to weigh the chances of a fighter in a specific bout. Pero kaya nga may training to address all of that, in order for the athlete to develop and correct the lapses. Yang ang kadalasan na hindi nakikita,” said Folayang.