Up until his last breath, Eduard Folayang refused to tap out.
Unlike their first bout last November 2016, Folayang could not escape Shinya Aoki’s clutch in the first round. He lost the ONE Lightweight World Championship in the main event of A New Era, Sunday evening at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan.
With Folayang’s loss, all four of Team Lakay’s world championships are now gone.
Joshua Pacio had been stunned by Yosuke Saruta to drop the Strawweight belt back on January 19. Six days later, Geje Eustaquio fell to Adriano Moraes to lose the Flyweight strap.
Earlier in the night, Kevin Belingon was disqualified, dropping the Bantamweight championship to Bibiano Fernandes.
Still, the Philippine mixed martial arts legend made sure that he kept his pride intact.
After Aoki took him down with ease midway through the opening stanza, the shifty Japanese grappler maneuvered himself to position himself for an arm triangle choke.
It was all but over for Folayang when Aoki was able to get both of his legs to the side of Folayang’s body.
But the Baguio native refused to tap out, instead opting to fall asleep with 2:26 left in the bout.
Though Folayang dropped to 21-7, he has yet to tap out in his illustrious 12-year career.
Aoki goes up to 43-9 with the victory. Moreover, he has avenged his third round knockout loss to Folayang in Singapore.
