Eduard “Landslide” Folayang was adjudged as the Martial Arts Hero of the Year while Head Coach Mark Sangiao took home the Coach of the Year accolade to led Team Lakay’s romp during ONE Championship’s 2018 Global Martial Arts Awards held in Singapore on Thursday, November 8.
By bestowing the honor to Folayang, ONE Championship recognizes his performances inside the cage and their impeccable character outside of it.
Team Lakay copped the Gym of the Year award while Joshua Pacio execution on the “Passion Lock” against Pongsiri Mitsatit earned him the Submission of the Year honor to complete the winners for the Cordillera MMA stable which took home four of the seven categories it or a member was nominated.
Pacio made the beautifully executed submission victory during ONE: Conquest of Heroes last September 22 at Indonesia when he made Yoshitaka Naito tap out via his creative submission lock. It was the first time such move was displayed for ONE audience.
What made it even sweeter was by outgunning Naito he became the third Team Lakay fighter at that time to currently hold a belt as the the ONE strawweight title was at stake.
Among those who were nominated for the various awards were Joshua Pacio and Kevin Belingon for the Male Athlete of the Year, Belingon again for the Breakthrough Athlete of the Year, and Folayang again for the Walk Out of the Year.
Folayang thanked God, his family, his gym, and the promotion after receiving his award.
“Grateful to my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ for this award, also to my family, teamlakay, one championship and to everyone I [met] in this martial arts journey who [brought] out the best in me”, he said in an Instagram post. “This award represents a start of a never ending journey of discipline, hardwork and the pursuit of an ever higher standard”
A streaking Folayang gets a chance to reclaim the title he lost next week, just a little over a year since he yielded it, at the same place he was knocked out, the Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena in Pasay as he is set to square off with Singaporean Amir Khan at ONE: Quest of Champions on November 23.
He is carrying 20 wins against 6 losses going into this fight compared to Khan’s 11-3.
ONE made the awards to recognize those who played pivotal roles in contributing to the growth and influence of martial arts around the globe.
The awards also recognized the top bouts, finishes, events, referees, ring girls, coaches, and journalists from around the world.
Here’s the other list of winners from the awards:
Male Athlete of the Year: Aung La N Sang; Female Athlete of the Year: Angela Lee; Muay Thai Athlete of the Year: Nong-O Gaiyanghadao; Kickboxing Athlete of the Year: Tenshin Nasukawa; Bout of the Year: Aung La N Sang VS Ken Hasegawa;
Knockout of the Year: Brian Ortega (KO of Frankie Edgar at UFC 222); Martial Arts Journalist of the Year: Manabu Takashima from MMA Planet; Ring Girl of the Year: Lee Ji Na; Event of the Year: ONE: KINGDOM OF HEROES; Walkout Of The Year: Andy Nguyen, Referee Of The Year: Olivier Coste; and Breakthrough of the Year: Stamp Fairtex
By: ARMANDO M. BOLISLIS
Banner photo courtesy of Mark Sangiao
