COURTESY CALL. The five Team Lakay members led by coach Mark Sangiao (4th from left) pay Benguet Gov. Melchor Diclas (3rd, right) a courtesy call on July 29 before leaving for Manila for the ONE Dawn of Heroes event on Friday evening at the Mall of Asia. From left: Danny Kingad, Eduard Kelly, Honorio Banario, Mark Sangiao, Benguet Gov. Melchor Diclas, Eduard Folayang and Geje Eustaquio. (Photo courtesy of Team Lakay)
BAGUIO CITY – Five Team Lakay fighters, three of them former champions, seek wins against tough opponents before their countrymen on Friday at the Mall of Asia (MOA) in Pasay City.
Former two-time lightweight champion Eduard Folayang will lead the Cordillera fighters in the MOA event when he faces Brazilian jiujitsu master Eddie Alvarez.
The three-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Folayang hopes to silence the Philadelphia native in his attempt to wrest back the crown he lost to Shinya Aoki earlier this year.
After Alvarez declared that “I’m going to punch him with my right hand, rip him to the floor, and I’m going to submit him,” Folayang simply described how he will counter the American’s strategy.
“I watched a lot of his fights, and he is a very good fighter in the stand-up, so I anticipated that and have prepared a lot for that, but I’m also prepared for any ground attack or wrestling that will be coming from him,” Folayang said.
The stage was set for the two fighters after injuries to Lowen Tynanes and Timofey Nastyukhin. The winner will enter the ONE Lightweight World Grand Prix finals on October 25 to determine a number one contender for the division’s belt.
Former flyweight king Geje Eustaquio will try to make it two straight after his loss to Adriano Moraes, including the belt, last January 25 when he battled Japan’s Yuya “Little Piranha” Wakamatsu in a ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix reserve bout.
Eustaquio, who snatched the crown from Moraes in June of last year, is fresh from his win over Korean Kyu Sung Kim last May 17.
Another former champion, Honorio Banario, hopes to bounce back from his Grand Prix quarterfinals loss to Tynanes when he goes up against Dae Sung Park in a lightweight fight.
Edward “The Ferocious” Kelly will tangle with “The Stalker” Xie Bin from China to the featherweight division.
Filipino fan-favorite Danny “The King” Kingad will take on Australia’s Reece “Lightning” McLaren in what many expect to be an exciting encounter.
Kingad was supposed to face former champion Kairat Akhmetov, who was injured while training that allowed McClaren to fight the Team Lakay member instead.
Kingad said that what he lacks in wrestling, which he knows is the advantage of the other fighters, he will make it up with his striking skills.
“We go down to Manila to learn jiu-jitsu, and we hone them back home until we improve them,” said the 23-year old who just finished his Education degree from the University of the Cordilleras in Baguio.
Dawn of Heroes will be bannered by ONE Featherweight World Champion Martin “The Situ-Asian” Nguyen, who will stake his belt against Japanese challenger Koyomi “Moushigo” Matsushima.
ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Champion Jonathan “The General” Haggerty will make the first defense of his World Title against Thai star Rodtang “Iron Man” Jitmuangnon in one of the most eagerly-anticipated ONE Super Series Muay Thai clashes yet.
Other fights include 12-time World Champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson against Japanese contender Tatsumitsu “The Sweeper” Wada.
Muay Thai star Rodlek PK Saeenchaimuaythaigym will make a swift turnaround to step in at short notice as he goes up against all-action athlete, Scotland’s Andrew “Maddog Fairtex” Miller.
Thailand’s Pongsiri “The Smiling Assassin” Mitsatit and China’s Miao Li Tao go head to head in a must-see strawweight contest. A win could galvanize a meeting with reigning strawweight king, Joshua Pacio of Team Lakay.
Another Team Lakay former champion, Kevin Belingon (bantamweight) takes a rest.
On Team Lakay’s Facebook group, head coach Mark Sangiao wrote: “So we descend carrying with us the rich blessings from the mountains and from our warrior forefathers who valorously defended this country and its people. Today, we are crossing the same rivers and mountains to keep the honor long fought for.”
Sangiao is a SEAG gold medalist and former mixed martial artists who co-founded Team Lakay with Folayang and Eustaquio, his former wushu sanda Philippine co-team members. He instead focused on coaching the team, the most successful Philippine squad in ONE FC. (PNA)
