Eduard ‘Landslide’ Folayang, ONE 2016 Fighter Of The Year

Say it loud and proud! Baguio City’s very own Eduard Folayang is ONE’s 2016 Fighter of the Year. His pristine performance with Baguio’s Team Lakay has been duly recognized as a pioneer in Philippine mixed martial arts.

Eduard Folayang Is Philippines’ Most Popular Mixed Martial Artist

MMA Mania reports that in 2011, Eduard Folayang fought the inaugural ONE Championship show. Before that, he was already a Universal Reality Combat Championship (URCC) Champion making him the most popular Filipino mixed martial artist. Despite the ups and downs in his career, 2016 was definitely Eduard’s year.

He defeated Tetsuya Yamada by decision back in January 2016 and in August, he put down Adrian Pang. This win gave him a shot at the title fight against lightweight king Shinya Aoki. When Folayang finished off Aoki by TKO in the third round, his name was put on the MMA map with a belt that says it all.

Eduard ‘Landslide’ Trains Hard

The 33-year-old Baguio native and former high school teacher is a member of Team Lakay Wushu. He started training when he was 16 years old under Head coach Tony Candelaria who helped him improve his skills and discipline. He then competed with the Philippine National Wushu Team while studying at the University of the Cordilleras.

“Landslide” won numerous Wushu tournaments including the gold medal at the 2011 South East Asian Games, a silver medal in the 2006 Doha Asian Games, and bronze medals in the 2005 World Wushu Championship and the 2002 Busan Asian Games. These wins made him an instructor and cornerman at Team Lakay MMA events which eventually led him to branch out from Wushu.

The Asian Journal reveals that Folayang and other fighters who train with Team Lakay “employ spinning backfists, flying knees, widely-arced kicks and a host of eye-catching strikes.” Those who have worked with Folayang say that he is distinctly known to deliver powerful strikes. To further improve his wrestling game, Eduard spent significant time training in the United States Asia One said. He is committed to keep training and in his Twitter post, the Philippine MMA Fighter is optimistic about what is ahead for him in 2017.

https://t.co/zKBZEuX3cA I'm just only starting ? 2017 here I come?

— eduard folayang (@efolayang) December 31, 2016

Eduard Folayang: A Man of Faith Devoted to His Family

Even if Eduard Folayang is busy promoting his upset victory, his thoughts are always of his home in Baguio City. As a matter of fact, he and his wife Genevieve are expecting their first child. Although Eduard knows she worries about him, she rarely complains.

Now in the prime of his life, he credits his faith as his inspiration and the source of his strength. In his recent victory, he expressed praises for the “master of masters and Lord of lords, Jesus Christ” along with tears of joy. He believes that a victory without God is no victory at all.