Eduard Folayang made the first defense of his ONE Championship lightweight title in front of a full house at the MOA Arena in Manila on Friday. Manny Pacquiao was in attendance to see the Filipino fan favorite win a hard fought decision over the extremely durable Ev Ting.
Ting came out with a flying knee at the opening bell only to be instantly taken down by Folayang. The remainder of the round was spent standing with the Filipino throwing kicks upstairs and downstairs, although the Malaysian frequently made him miss with clever movement.
Ting was on the front foot, but the majority of the offense was coming from the champion and this would be a theme throughout the fight. In the second stanza, Ting was thwarted in his attempt at an early takedown, but caught Folayang with a couple of clean punches and kicks.
The Malaysian’s forward momentum meant they frequently ended up clinching against the cage where Folayang scored with a series of knees. At the start of the third, Folayang looked to unload with his hooks, but Ting stood his ground in the center of the cage and fired back.
The Filipino repeatedly attempted spinning elbows and kicks, but Ting easily evaded them all. The Malaysian was the more accurate at this stage, but as the fight progressed he became increasingly outworked by the champion, who threw with greater regularity while successfully stuffing every single takedown attempt.
In the fourth frame, Ting dropped for a spectacular scissors-style leg lock, but only succeeded in briefly ending up on the bottom. Knowing that the momentum was with Folayang going into the final round, Ting came out aggressively and immediately clipped the Team Lakay star with a left hook.
The Malaysian then attempted one of his trademark head kicks, but Folayang caught