Eduard Folayang is back in the hunt for the title he lost to Shinya Aoki last March as ONE Championship raised the stakes involved in his upcoming match against Eddie Alvarez.
In a development announced by ONE Championship, ONE Lightweight Grand Prix semifinalist Timofey Nastyukhin suffered a knee injury that forced him out of the tournament and the promotion made the August 2 showdown between the former three-time ONE Lightweight World Champion and four-time mixed martial arts Lightweight World Champion during ONE: Dawn of Heroes at Mall of Asia Arena a semifinal match in the Lightweight Grand Prix.
The winner of this bout will meet Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev of Turkey in finals to be held in Tokyo this October. The ultimate last man standing in the tournament then will have the right to challenge the title holder for the belt.
The ONE World Lightweight title now belongs to Christian Lee, who successfully warded off a challenge from Aoki and took possession of the hardware last May.
Folayang’s gain, however, came as a big blow to another Team Lakay member as stablemate Honorio Banario’s supposed own title shot vanished in air.
Banario was originally tabbed to face Nastyukhin in the semifinals bout but latter’s injury forced One Championship to scrap the fight altogether considering Banario was also a replacement for injured quarterfinals winner Lowen Tynanes.
Banario, however, remains on the card and will now face “Crazy Dog” Dae Sung Park, who is very fresh off a knockout win against Kimihiro Eto on July 12.
Meanwhile, Jomary Torres suffered another loss on July 12 during ONE: MASTERS OF DESTINY at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia that extended her losing streak to four.
“The Zamboanginian Fighter” was forced to tap at the 3:07 mark of the opening round against Malaysian Jihin “Shadow Cat” Radzuan’s triangle choke.
Torres briefly showcased her strength by reversing a Radzuan takedown and slamming the Malaysian star twice to the canvass as she is securing her hold.
Radzuan, however, refused to let go of her control and tightened the choke prompting celebration of the crowd as their compatriot completed the thrilling win.
Torres, who launched her MMA career with a blazing 4-0 start, is now at an even 4-4. Her last win came over a year agoi when she slammed cold Team Lakay’s April Osenio on November, 2018.
Radzuan, who was coming off a loss from Team Lakay’s Gina Iniong before this fight, raised her record to 5-1
By Armando M. Bolislis