Photo via ONE Championship press release
ONE on TNT IV Media Day: Eduard Folayang on Shinya Aoki rubber match
ONE on TNT IV Media Day went down last night ahead of the huge card on Wednesday, April 28th. The stacked martial arts event emanates from Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Both the lead and main cards feature compelling bouts with a myriad of combatants taking part in a second day of media Q&A ahead of their respective bouts. I spoke with Eduard Folayang as the former ONE lightweight world champion readies for his rubber match with another former ONE lightweight titleholder in Shinya Aoki.
ONE on TNT IV Media Day
I’m just kind of curious because you’re stepping into a high-stakes fight here with Shinya Aoki. How key of a moment is this in your career; this tiebreaker fight with Aoki?
“Of course I didn’t expect that we’d be facing each other again this time. Because I’ve been on my losing streak and he has been winning all his fights. So when his opponent and my opponent were injured, probably it’s a divine appointment for us to meet each other.”
Eduard Folayang
You’ve been with ONE since their very first event there and just this being a big event on TNT getting a lot of broad exposure to the North American audience, can you kind of talk about the journey of ONE Championship and just your growth by proxy?
“Yeah, well it’s been fun to be in ONE Championship. Ever since its integration. I didn’t expect that it would grow this big. For now, it’s already going into the West and a lot of my countrymen there are of course very happy to watch us live.”
“And I think, I also grew as an athlete here. As a martial artist, I learned a lot of lessons. I had a lot of wins and losses. But the most important thing there is that I was able to capture the belt two times. And, of course I’m aiming for the third time again. And of course, it’s a pretty tough journey but it’s worth it.”
