Eduard Folayang started his mixed martial arts career back in 2007 and has 28 battles under his belt.
On the other hand, Eddie Alvarez turned pro back in 2003 and has competed in 35 bouts.
Alvarez sees this as his advantage come ONE: Dawn of Heroes on Friday, August 2 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
“Eduard is very strong, very tricky, and explodes into his combinations. I am not a wushu fighter; if we made this a wushu fight, Eduard will probably win – but this is not a wushu fight. This is MMA,” said Alvarez, a former UFC and Bellator World Champion.
“We can go to the ground, we can go stand up, wrestle, box, this is everything. And I have been doing MMA longer than anybody on this whole card. I am the better fighter by far. I can go more places for a longer period of time.”
The 35-year-old athlete out of Kensington, Pennsylvania believes that he is much quicker on his feet, much stronger on the mat, and overall, a more polished mixed martial artist than Folayang, who himself is a two-time ONE Lightweight World Champion.
Both Alvarez and Folayang are coming off losses, however. But Alvarez plans to try and stifle the Filipino’s striking with his grappling.
“Eduard throws a lot of surprise attacks. Ideally, you take him down, and none of that works, right? Take him to the ground and nothing. He’s done for, his whole life works,” the 35-year-old from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania said.
“We’ve seen what happened with Aoki, he was lost on the ground. That’s an option. Also an option is to use my boxing, I feel like I have better boxing.”
Though he believes he is the better all-around martial artist, Alvarez still respects what Folayang has accomplished. However, he stressed that he did not travel halfway across the world just to lose.
“I’m a championship killer, man. Look at my resume. I can rattle off name upon name of champions that I’ve demolished,” Alvarez said.
“This is another champion. Eduard doesn’t have the belt, but he’s a champion. Once a champion, always a champion. So to me this is another champion that I can put around my necklace. Knockout or submission, the fight will be finished.”
Want to catch ONE: DAWN OF HEROES? Get your tickets here and use the codeword ONEHERO for a 25 percent discount. A special limited-edition Eduard Folayang – Eddie Alvarez shirt will be sold on event night.
