2 Team Lakay bouts named among best fights

SHOWCASING their vastly improved grappling and ground defense, two Team Lakay fighters were included in One Championship's four best bouts for the past three months.

The last three months have been absolutely epic inside Asia’s largest mixed martial arts promotion, with several ONE Championship athletes rising to the occasion on the global stage.

Eduard Folayang’s tough victory over Ev Ting’s onslaught while Danny Kingad and Muhammad Aiman’s tense encounter at One: Kings of Destiny were named among the best fights for the past three months.

After delivering the performance of a lifetime against Japanese martial arts legend Shinya Aoki, capturing the ONE lightweight world championship, it was time for Folayang to return home, and defend his new title for the first time in front of a passionate hometown crowd.

Up for the challenge was Malaysia’s Ev Ting, who gave the champion all that he could handle. It takes a lot to go toe-to-toe with an athlete of Folayang’s caliber, but Ting stood right in front of the champion every step of the way. What resulted was a truly memorable showdown between the lightweight division’s very best talents. Ting took the fight to the champion, scoring on multiple combinations, while Folayang countered with his furious strikes. When matters hit the ground however, it was Folayang who showcased his well-rounded wrestling. But the contest didn’t stay on the mat for very long, and fans were treated to an evening filled with intense action on the feet.

Folayang overcame a spirited performance from Ting to retain his title via unanimous decision, but fight fans will most likely see these two inside the cage again at some point in their careers.

Top prospects Kingad, also of Team Lakay and Muhammad Aiman of Malaysia went headto-head this past April, and the bout produced some world-class action, as well as a glimpse of a promising future for both youngsters. Kingad and Aiman are among the promotion’s young talents, and considered as torch-bearers ready to take martial arts to the next level in the near future. However, an encounter early in their careers means one of them had to take a loss.

After three grueling rounds of back-andforth action, it was Kingad who emerged with the victory in

front of his hometown crowd.

Breezing through competition in his first four bouts as a professional, Kingad finally met his match in Aiman, who kept the Filipino’s hands full for 15 whole minutes. It was Kingad’s toughest test to date, as evidenced in round three when he had to dig deep to survive a tight submission attempt by the Malaysian.

Topping the best fight for the past three months in ONE is Aung La N Sang making history with an upset victory against former ONE middleweight champion Vitaly Bigdash while the last but not the least in the list is Zebaztian Kadestam’s comeback knockout Of Luis Santos at ONE: Dynasty of Heroes. Roderick Osis