Folayang, Vera banner ONE Championship at MOA Arena

Eduard Folayang seeks to reclaim the lightweight title he lost a year ago as he clashes with Singapore’s Amir Khan even as Fil-Am Brandon Vera defends his heavyweight crown against Italy’s Mauro Cerilli on Nov. 23 in the ONE Championship’s Conquest of Champions at the MOA Arena in Pasay.

Folayang snatched the lightweight crown by shocking long-time titlist Shinya Aoki two years ago, successfully defended it against Ev Ting in August last year before dropping a secondround knockout defeat to Martin Nguyan exactly a year ago.

Now the 33-year-old Team Lakay bet, who owns a 20-6 (win-loss) record, will get another crack at the vacant lightweight championship if he beats Khan, who has an 11-3 mark, and join countrymen Vera, Geje Eustaquio (fly), Joshua Pacio (straw) and Kevin Belingon (bantam) in ONE’s current stable champions.

“That’s my goal, to become champion again,” said Folayang during yesterday’s workout at the fifth floor of the Victoria Sports Tower in Quezon City.

Folayang, however, will face a younger and dangerous 24-year-old Khan, who demolished the former’s friend and stablemate Honorio Banario via first round submission (rear-naked choke) in ONE’s Beyond the Horizon in Shanghai, China last September.

During workouts, Khan has displayed strong striking skills and a solid ground-and-pound game as well as the confidence to pull the rug from under the favored Folayang.

“I want to become the first homegrown Singaporean to win a world championship and inspire people and allow mixed martial arts to gain more recognition in Singapore,” said Khan. “And I’m confident of beating Folayang as I will bring my best version of me when I face him.”

Vera, meanwhile, grabbed the inaugural heavyweight title by beating Paul Cheng three years ago and successfully defended it by smashing Hideki Sekina two years back, both needing just one round to finish.

But rust could play a crucial role for Vera, who is now 41 years old against the younger Cerilli, who is 35, as the former hasn’t fought in the last two years.

Vera owns a record of 15-7 record and Cerilli 12-2.