PHL's Folayang dethrones Aoki in third round stoppage

SINGAPORE - The face of Philippine mixed martial arts, Eduard Folayang of Baguio City's Team Lakay, is finally a world champion following a stunning performance to upset the ONE lightweight champion Shinya Aoki in the main event of 'ONE Championship: Defending Honor' Friday night at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

 

Eduard Folayang TKOs legend Shinya Aoki, wins ONE World Championship https://t.co/UsbTyLttPN #ONEFightNight #MMA pic.twitter.com/fLh7J9sUiK

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) November 11, 2016

 

It was more than clear from the get go that Aoki didn't want to risk fighting Folayang on their feet. The Japanese fighter got the fight to the mat where he wanted, but Folayang remained composed and defended well from Aoki's submission attempts.

 

Folayang allowed Aoki to come to him in the second, managing to land significant strikes using both his hands and feet. A hard flying knee rocked Aoki in the third round followed by multiple right hands on top. Not being able to defend himself, referee Yuji Shimada halted the fight at the 0:41 mark of round three.

 

The stunning upset improved Folayang's his record to 17-5 while Aoki tasted his first defeat inside the ONE Championship as he fell to 39-7. — DVM, GMA News