Former ONE World Champions Eduard “Landslide” Folayang and Joshua “The Passion” Pacio will begin their journey to the U.S. this April, nearly a month after they announced their departure from Team Lakay.
Folayang will bring Pacio along to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to train at Jackson Wink MMA Academy and work with renowned coaches Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn.
It will be Folayang’s first time back in the States since 2018, the year he trained at Jackson Wink for his ONE Lightweight World Title clash with Amir Khan.
“With all honesty, I can no longer contain my excitement over the chance to train with them once again. The new chapter for me begins in the States, and I am incredibly grateful,” Folayang said.
Pacio, for his part, is excited to visit the U.S. for the first time and expand his horizons when it comes to learning and developing new skills for his young career.
“It will be my first time in the States. Of course, I’m super excited. But at the same time, I am looking forward to fully maximizing the opportunity that has been given to us,” Pacio said.
After New Mexico, the pair will head to California where they also plan to train with Kings MMA coach Rafael Cordeiro. Cordeiro has trained some of the most famous Brazilians to ever compete in mixed martial arts.
Aside from Kings MMA, Pacio hopes to train with Team Alpha Male in Sacramento where some of the best in the U.S. train, such as current ONE lightweight Sage Northcutt, who returns to ONE action on 5 May at ONE Fight Night 10.
“I would love to spar with the guys at Team Alpha Male. It’s beneficial on my part because they have a ton of fighters who belong to a lower weight class like me. Plus, the majority of its athletes are at the elite level,” Pacio said.
However, Folayang clarified that while the sole reason for them going to the U.S. is to learn and train, they don’t intend to stay.
“We only seek two things in this journey — to learn and to grow by exposing ourselves to different styles and training methodologies of mixed martial arts. Nothing more, nothing less. Joining any stable or group is not part of the plan,” he said.
“Joshua and I intend to come back home and share what we’ve learned.”
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