ONE FC MMA: Philippines’ Folayang and Nagaowa gird for battle
A month away from another hellacious ONE FC fight night and Eduard Folayang and debutante Jujeath Nagaowa are already girding for their upcoming fights.
Team Lakay's Folayang, a lightweight, will stake his 13-4 slate against Japanese striker Kotetsu “No Face” Boku, while Nagaowa matches up against India's Jeet Toshi in an atomweight (48 kg) bout. The event is called ONE FC Rise of Heroes and will take place in the Mall of Asia Arena.
During the open workout at Ultimate Fitness gym in Ortigas Center on Wednesday, Folayang, who you can learn more about here, looked relaxed and confident as he fielded questions about his upcoming fight. He also tackled the widely-held belief that Filipino mixed-martial artists are all about striking and kicking, and are inferior when it comes to grappling.
For Folayang, he believes it's all in the Pinoy fighter's heads.
“Naniniwala ako na and disadvantage natin sa ground ay dahil kulang ang self-confidence natin.” (I believe we have a disadvantage on the ground because we lack the self-confidence.)
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“Dahil walang self-confidence, nagiging passive kami sa ground” (Because of our lack of self-confidence, we become passive on the ground) explained the Baguio-born wushu specialist.
Folayang says he has improved his own grappling techniques thanks to a long training module with Filipino-American UFC fighter Mark Muñoz and intensive tutelage from Iranian mentor Ali Hyderabadi. Folayang says his grappling has improved “30-35%” since he started working with the two men.
When asked what he has learned the most from the instruction, he says “it's the principle of defense is offense. You can't be passive.”
Folayang is no slouch on the ground, having submitted Egon Racz in Singapore four years ago. But there is no question that he is at his most dangerous standing up.
The former Asian Games silver medalist has plenty of respect for Boku, who is a Japanese-born fighter of Korean descent. The 36-year-old kickboxer has a 21-9-2 record and Folayang is wary of him. In Boku's last ONE FC appearance last month in Kuala Lumpur he derailed Frenchman Arnaud Lepont with a TKO victory. Boku is a former ONE FC Lightweight champ.
“Experienced siya. Alam niya pag dehado siya sa fight at kailangan magsugal” says Folayang of his foe. (He is experienced. He knows when he is trailing in a fight and has to gamble.)
Experience may be lacking with Nagaowa, but she is nonetheless looking forward to her clash with Toshi. The 27-year-old from Mankayan, Benguet has a solid boxing record of 12-13-1 and was once the WBC Atomweight women's champ. She has ended eight of her boxing matches by sending opponents to the canvas.
Nagaowa was supposed to begin her MMA career last December 6 but that was nixed because of a medical suspension.
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The proud Kankana-ey Igorot (the same ethnic group as Folayang) says she began boxing just as a fitness regimen in 2006, but it soon became her career. Then the shift to MMA, which she had always been a fan of.
Nagaowa is currently in training with Team Insider Gym in Makati, and hopes to be the country's first Filipina MMA champ. When asked about her fighting style, she only goes so far as saying she is aggressive. Her Filipina idol is none other than former Filipina president Corazon Aquino.
Her opponent, Priyanka Jeet Toshi is believed to be India's first female MMA fighter, and is a specialist in K1 (kickboxing) rules fighting. She sports a 2-1 win-loss card. This is her second ONE FC match. In 2012 she lost to Singaporean Nicole Chua via submission (rear naked choke.)
There will be yet another Pinoy on the May card: Cebuano Eugene Toquero matches up against Nepalese-American-Malaysian Gianni Subba in the flyweight division. The evening's main event will be a bantamweight title match between Brazilian Bibiano Fernandes and Japan's Masakatsu Ueda.
Come May 2, one thing is for sure: Pinoy MMA fans will once again enjoy an electrifying evening of martial arts action.
Follow Bob on Twitter @PassionateFanPH. Get ONE FC tickets at smtickets.com.
