VENGEANCE will be the overriding theme when ONE Championship World Lightweight Champion Eduard Folayang faces challenger Ev Ting in his first title defense on April 21 at the Mall of Asia Arena.
If you can call Manny Pacquiao the “Mexecutioner” because of the number of Mexican fighters he beat, then just go ahead and call Ting the “Pinoy Poison” because he seems to specialize in beating Filipino MMA fighters inside the cage.
He beat six Filipinos in succession in six years starting with New Zealand-born Mark Abelardo in 2011. He then went through Filipinos one after another with Rolando Navarette in 2012, Edward Kelly in 2014, Cary Bullos in 2015, Honorio Banario in 2015 and finally Eric Kelly just last year in 2016.
It’s almost like he seeks out Filipino fighters on purpose because of some unknown reason. Ting has fought and defeated six Filipinos (including three of Folayang’s Team Lakay stable mates) in the past six years and Folayang wants the chance to stop that trend and avenge his countrymen inside the cage.
“Well, I want to redeem the losses suffered by my teammates in Team Lakay. I don’t want to add to his list of victims especially with the championship belt at stake in our fight,” said Folayang.
Ting fought and won over Kamal Shalorus in the main event of ONE: Throne of Tigers at the Stadium Negara in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia recently. He almost immediately called out Folayang when interviewed inside the cage after his victory.
The 27-year-old Ting relied on a variety of strikes as he pounded Shalorus from distance to post the hard-earned decision.
The Folayang-Ting fight promises to be a slam-bang affair especially with the exciting stand up styles of both fighters.
“Expected na magandang laban ito knowing na si Ev Ting ay striker at ganoon din ako. Halos karamihan sa nakita ko na fight ni Ev Ting ay gusto nyang ipunta sa stand up. So expected ko na yun. Pero syempre tinitingnan ko din ang possibility na ipunta nya ang laro sa grappling kasi halos doon niya tinalo yung tatlong Pinoy niyang kalaban,” said Folayang.
Ting is riding the crest of a four-fight win streak. Folayang is unbeaten in 2016 which is highlighted by his spectacular victory over Japanese MMA legend Shinya Aoki to win the lightweight world title.
Folayang was also named ONE Championship’s 2016 Fighter of the Year in honor of his dominant year capped by the victory over Aoki.
Folayang, a three-time Southeast Asia Games gold medalist in Wushu, scored decision victories over Tetsuya Yamada and Adrian Pang before posting that spectacular stoppage of Aoki.
The 32-year-old Folayang earned the Fighter of the Year accolade over women’s champion 20-year-old Angela Lee (who won the atomweight title after outlasting Mei Yamaguchi last May) featherweight king Marat Gafurov, bantamweight titleholder Bibiano Fernandes and Ting himself.