WATCH: Relive the historic rivalry between MMA legends Shinya Aoki and Eduard Folayang in ONE Championship

Filipino MMA icon Eduard Folayang and Japanese legend Shinya Aoki are two names that will forever be linked together owing to the trilogy of fights they had in ONE Championship.

First clashing in the main event of ONE: Defending Honor in November 2016, 'Landslide' shockingly took the ONE lightweight MMA world championship from Aoki via TKO in round three. This historic moment snapped Aoki's five-fight winning streak to start his ONE tenure.

Three years later in March, 'Tobikan Judan' learned from his mistakes in their first meeting and methodically worked towards an arm-triangle submission of Folayang to reclaim the gold.

With their head-to-head record at one win apiece, the rubber match was set for ONE on TNT IV in April 2021. Folayang fared better this time, but Aoki's masterful ground game led to the fight-ending armbar at the 4:20 mark of the first round.

Check out all three fights below, which ONE posted on YouTube:

Now both 41, the former 170-pound MMA kings are set to run it back for a fourth time at ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang on March 23 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

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Eduard Folayang speaks on his enemies-turned-friends relationship with Shinya Aoki

Despite their battles, Eduard Folayang and Shinya Aoki have developed a close kinship with one another that surprised many fans. The Lions Nation MMA founder opened up on how it all came to be in a recent interview with The MMA Superfan:

"We have developed a friendship. That's what I always tell my teammates - we are professionals. We need to abide by the conduct of our profession. We really need to be rivals in the ring or in the Circle, yet that wouldn't end the friendship we have developed through the years as warriors inside the cage."

Watch the full interview below:

ONE 172 will be available live on pay-per-view at watch.onefc.com.