IT’S back to the drawing board for Coach Mark Sangiao and the legendary Team Lakay, the country’s proud exponents of martial arts that owned four of eleven ONE Championship crowns in various divisions as the new year began.
The charismatic Eduard Folayang, widely rewarded as the face of Philippine martial arts, ruled over the lightweight division; the explosive Kevin Belingon, the bantamweight crown; whiz kid Joshua Pacio, the strawweight category and Geje Eustaquio, the flyweight class.
But just one week before ONE: Hero’s Ascent played out in Manila for ONE’s opening salvo in 2019, Joshua Pacio lost his grip on his crown to Yosuke Aruta in ONE: Eternal Glory in Jakarta. And when ONE: Hero’s Ascent happened in Manila just last weekend, Geje Eustaquio, the cerebral warrior with razor-sharp strikes, failed to pin down his crown against nemesis, Adriano Mikinho Moraes. The Brazilian got the judges’ nod despite a heave-ho battle because of a long, dominant Suloev Stretch he applied on the Lakay hero in the fourth. Stripped of his title, “Gravity” still impressed even his third-time foe for his Lakay pride and refusal to give up despite a nasty submission attempt.
That same night, Honorio “The Rock” Banario succumbed to Lowen Tynanes who stayed dominant all fight long, ending their bout with a stoppage at 4:46 of the first round. Only Danny “The King” Kingad stayed on top, mastering his Japanese opponent, Tatsumatsu Wada, with wily escape acts and a superior game.
To date, only Folayang and Belingon still have their bling slung on their shoulders, but they, too, will put their prized hardware on the line as Team Lakay prepares for battle in Tokyo on March 31 for ONE: A New Era. The ONE franchise is set to make a splash in the Japanese market in 2019 with its first live event in March and another one, ONE: Greatness Unleashed, in October.
Folayang will face the Japanese martial arts legend, Shinya Aoki, whom he dethroned in November 2016 in Singapore to become reigning ONE lightweight champion for the first time. The Team Lakay greatly stunned the world with a third-round technical knockout of Aoki who tasted defeat for the first time in four years. Now Aoki lies in wait for the very welcome rematch which will be held in his home country. Since bowing to Folayang, Aoki had collected three first-round stoppage wins to earn the right to fight the reigning champ, who, himself, had to work his way up to figure in a title fight. Folayang defeated Amir Khan last November to take on the vacant lightweight crown given up by Martin Nguyen.
“I am happy that I got this chance to fight in my home country,” Aoki said. “It will be a great event and I plan to put on a good show for the fans. This is the chance for Japanese martial arts to truly shine.”
Folayang is ready, but stays humble, as always. “Ang mindset ko siyempre ay manalo at maiuwi ang belt sa Pilipinas. Shinya is tough. He’s not a legend for nothing. Akala ng iba wala lang siya, pero once na makalaban niyo siya, dun niyo mare-realize na mahirap,” said the warrior-coach-and-teacher.
The Japan fight is something he looks forward to. “I never imagined I would be fighting in Japan, even during my wushu days with the National team,” Folayang added.
The other Lakay champion, Kevin Belingon, who has been the newest box office draw because of his fearless and sensational fighting style, will face Brazilian star Bibiano Fernandes, ONE’s longest-reigning bantamweight king. Just like the Eustaquio-Moraes bout, this Belingon-Fernandes meet-up in Japan is part three of a storied trilogy.
Twenty sixteen was the first time that Belingon and Fernandes shared the cage, with then-ONE Bantamweight World Champion Fernandes successfully defending his title against the Filipino striker via first-round submission.
In November 2018, Belingon got his revenge on Fernandes, winning via split decision in Singapore to become the undisputed ruler of the bantamweight division. Fernandes had ruled as ONE Bantamweight World Champion for nearly seven years on a winning streak.
The fight in Japan is going to be star-studded with all the stops out. ONE Women’s Atomweight World Champion Angela Lee of Singapore will challenge Xiong Jing Nan of China for her ONE Women’s Strawweight World Championship title. The celebrated Burmese fighter Aung La N Sang of Myanmar will defend his ONE Middleweight World Championship against Japan’s Ken Hasegawa.
Also on the card, two of ONE’s biggest acquisitions debut at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan. Former UFC and Bellator Lightweight Champion Eddie “The Underground King”Alvarez faces hard-hitting Russian Timofey Nastyukhin in a ONE Lightweight World Grand Prix quarterfinals matchup. Former longtime UFC Flyweight World Champion and top-ranked pound-for-pound fighter Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson meets Japanese striker Yuya Wakamatsu in a ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix quarterfinals matchup.
Team Lakay Coach and father figure Mark Sangiao isn’t leaving anything to chance. In a suddenly challenging new year that has put in peril many of the glorious gains earned in 2018, he says it’s time again to regroup and learn. “Siyempre, nalulungkot kami sa pagkawala ng dalawang belt. But we have to look forward and face the future. Future plans namin ay magensayo nang husto at bumawi. Kailangang maidepensa nila Kevin at Eduard ang mga belt nila.”
Eustaquio is not crestfallen about his recent defeat either.”If you saw the fight, I was the one to score even when he was in the mount position. I threw punches, elbow strikes and my elbow was even in pain from hitting him in the head.”
“But it is what it is,” he said. “I have to stay positive and respect the judges’ decision at the end of the day. We will go back to the drawing board and come back better. We are used to this.”
Finally, he left behind wise words that echo through the peaks and valleys, not just of their beloved Cordilleras, but in the hearts and minds of those who are inspired by Team Lakay. “We are people of the mountains. There is no mountain we cannot conquer,” Eustaquio said.
Indeed.