Folayang KO's Aoki to win One lightweight belt

One Championship

By Ivan Saldajeno

MANILA--Eduard Folayang became the latest in line of Filipino world MMA champions after stunning Japanese opponent Shinya Aoki with a knockout win for the One lightweight title at One: Defending Honor at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore on Friday night.

Folayang, the current face of Philippine MMA, completed the biggest victory of his career by connecting on a knee to Aoki's head before pouring on continuous strike that the erstwhile champ could not stop, prompting Referee Yuji Shimada to call it a fight at the 40 second mark of Round 3.

Folayang actually went off to a slow start as Aoki showcased his grappling skills in the first round only that Folayang connected on significant strikes in the next five minutes that already staggered Aoki prior to the crucial knee strikes.

This is Folayang's second major MMA title having won the URCC lightweight title early into his career.

Folayang's major shocker made up for Vaughn Donayre's failed conquest of Amir Khan in an undercard fight.

Donayre survived chock submission attempts by Khan in Round 1 and even came close to scoring his own submission win in the next period.

Khan finally found an opening for a rear naked choke that forced Donayre to tap out at the 2:38 mark of Round 3.

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