Mark Sangiao expects the very best from his ward, Eduard “Landslide” Folayang, when he returns to the ONE Championship Circle next week.
Folayang battles Antonio “The Spartan” Caruso on the undercard of ONE: INSIDE THE MATRIX on 30 October at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, and it’s a match that could determine Folayang’s future in the weight class.
“The key to this fight is him, his mentality, and his approach,” Sangiao said about Folayang.
“He has to execute the game plan that we mapped out for him – that will be the crucial point of the match. We all know how important this is for him. We know that this match could potentially bring him back toward contention.”
The soft-spoken mentor proudly said that Folayang – and the rest of his wards – never stopped training even during COVID-19 restrictions to make sure they were ready when ONE came calling.
Now they are about to reap the rewards of what they have sowed, and they hope it will be fruitful.
“We’re prepared, we’ve been training for this since March,” Sangiao said.
“We focused on home training so we didn’t lose our conditioning. These athletes focused on their own home workouts before they were allowed to return to the gym.”
Because Folayang’s work rate never really dipped, Sangiao believes the Filipino is physically ready to start his road back to contention.
“I think all-in-all we’re 90 percent ready. Just 90 because there’s still more than a week to go until fight night, and we have to remain prepared until then with our game planning and all,” Sangiao said.
“But I feel like Eduard is 100 percent ready. He’s ready physically, mentally, and spiritually.”
ONE Championship returns to action with four World Title matches at ONE: INSIDE THE MATRIX on 30 October at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Catch all the action by downloading the ONE Super App or watch the event on One Sports+ at 8:30 p.m. Philippine Standard Time (PHT).
One Sports will air the event on a same-day delay at 9 p.m. PHT. Additionally, TV5 will air the event on a next-day delay at 11 p.m. PHT on Saturday, 31 October.