“We all know what he wants to do” - Eduard Folayang expects another grappling master class from Shinya Aoki at ONE 172

Eduard Folayang expects Shinya Aoki to lean on his world-class grappling skills at ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang. 'The Landslide' will go toe-to-toe with Aoki for the fourth time on Sunday, March 23 when ONE Championship descends upon the iconic Saitama Super Arena in Japan for one of the most stacked fight cards in promotional history.

Both fighters enter the quadrilogy bout looking to carry over the momentum from their previous outing.

However, Folayang knows that if he hopes to snatch another big win over 'Tobikan Judan,' he'll have to endure the former ONE world champion's devastating ground game.

"While I expect him to try and pull off new things, I expect him to go back to his bread and butter," Folayang told ONE in a recent interview. "Shinya is Shinya and we all know what he wants to do. I have to be very careful not to show one bit of opening cause I know he’ll capitalize."

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Eduard Folayang looks to even the series against Shinya Aoki at ONE 172

As mentioned above, this will be the fourth-ever meeting between Eduard Folayang and Shinya Aoki on martial arts' biggest global stage.

Their first encounter came at ONE: Defending Honor back in 2016. On that night, 'The Landslide' secured a third-round knockout over the Japanese legend.

Since then, Aoki has taken the last two meetings, submitting Folayang at ONE: A New Era and ONE on TNT IV—both coming in the first round.

Will Folayang even the series at two apiece, or will Aoki score another highlight-reel finish against the Filipino fan favorite in The Land of the Rising Sun?

ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang will emanate from the Saitama Super Arena in Japan on Sunday, March 23. Head over to watch.onefc.com to learn more about how you can watch the event live.