Even though Eduard Folayang and Joshua Pacio have reached the pinnacle of their respective weight classes as mixed martial artists, both men are still fervent about learning from the greatest minds in the sport.
This was the reason behind their surprising departures from Team Lakay, which led them to explore opportunities overseas in the hopes of advancing their skills and addressing the gaps in their game.
After a few weeks of training under the tutelage of Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn at the famed Jackson Wink MMA Academy in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Folayang outlined the methodologies made by the two respected coaches during their one-on-one sessions.
“It’s more of a simulated training session in the sense that you can practice what you expect and not expect from your opponent. Greg and Wink are always there to help you solve the problems that might give you fits during the fight,” he told Tiebreaker Times.
“They’ll really give you an idea. For example, if you struggle in a certain aspect, they’ll give you a solution and tell you to watch this certain fight to give you a better perspective. You really get to see how a specific fighter can solve the problem.”
Meanwhile, Pacio admired how the stable’s headmasters prepare their fighters in different scenarios during a bout.
“I saw how good they are as strategists. When you get taken down, they advise you to do this because it’s going to happen, no matter how good your defense is. It all boils down to how you respond to adversity,” the former ONE strawweight champion shared.
“They do it step by step. They don’t tell you not to get taken down. It’s kind of like expect the unexpected.”
The 27-year-old Baguio City native also lauded the camp’s keen sense of attention to detail in the application of techniques in both striking and grappling departments, sharing, “They will teach you detailed techniques, and participants will have to drill it over and over again. When we do spar, that’s when we really get to apply it. When we’re rolling, we start with what new techniques we’ve learned, so it becomes ingrained in our muscle memory.”
On the other hand, it was a delight for Folayang to have training partners who compete in the same division as him.
(C) Eduard Folayang
“It’s really different when you face bigger, taller, and stronger training partners. It will really push you to think of ways how you can cope with the power that they have. The more that you need to assess how to beat them, it sharpens you,” the two-time ONE lightweight titleholder stated.
Both Folayang and Pacio agreed that there are several key points from their stay at Jackson Wink, that they want to integrate into their system of training at their newly-established gym in La Trinidad, Benguet.
Pacio leans heavily on the proper execution of techniques during drills, while Folayang seeks to put more emphasis on attaining optimal performance through a systematized approach. To this day, Folayang and Pacio continue to draw flak from some fans and pundits for leaving Team Lakay.
Folayang concedes that while a few aren’t too pleased with their decision, he is grateful that many still believe in what they are fighting for. This gives him and his group enough reason to soldier on.
“We’re thankful that the coaches we’ve been working with have been very positive towards us. When people believe in you, it gives a lot of motivation for you to move forward,” he said.
“You really can’t avoid the negativity. But at the same time, should we believe in them or ourselves? We need to step out and do something other than wait for time to eat us up. We don’t want to be in that position.”
