“This is more than winning or losing” - Eduard Folayang on the magnitude of his legacy fight with archrival Shinya Aoki

Filipino MMA legend Eduard Folayang battles his Japanese counterpart Shinya Aoki for the fourth and, possibly, last time later this month. It is a match, he said, carries a lot of significance especially at this late stage of their careers.

'Landslide' battles 'Tobikan Judan' in a lightweight MMA clash at ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang on March 23 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

It will be the fourth encounter in ONE Championship between the two, whose rivalry started nearly a decade ago. The decorated fighter from Japan currently holds the lead in their head-to-head matchup at 2-1.

Speaking to ONE Championship in an interview, the Lions Nation MMA standout shared his thoughts on the significance of his upcoming showdown against his longtime rival, saying:

"Right now, it’s not really about proving who’s better. This is more than winning or losing. This is all about proving to ourselves that we can still compete at the highest of levels, and to show that we’ve still improved from our previous fights, and this is a good challenge for both of us."

The two battle-tested warriors first met in November 2016, with Eduard Folayang scoring a TKO win to become the new ONE lightweight MMA world champion. Aoki, however, came back to defeat by submission the Baguio-born fighter in their rematch in March 2019.

They last shared the Circle in April 2021, with Aoki again forcing Folayang into submission.

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Eduard Folayang vows to dig deep in fight vs Shinya Aoki at ONE 172

Knowing the significance of his latest showdown with archrival Shinya Aoki, Eduard Folayang vowed to dig deep and produce a winning performance at ONE 172.

He made this known in an interview with The MMA Superfan, underscoring his push to squeeze whatever best is left in him to come out triumphant.

Folayang said:

"For me, I’m just honored that he asked for me, and he did say that I will be his last fight. For me, my contract will end in September, so this could also be my last, but it depends. I’ll just go there and do my best, whatever best still remains in me. I leave it to God on what the next steps could be."

Watch the interview below:

Before ONE 172, Folayang was last in action in September 2023, where he knocked out Singaporean Amir Khan in their rematch.

ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang is available live on pay-per-view via watch.onefc.com.