Amir Khan faces off with Eduard Folayang at open workout
Singaporean knockout sensation Amir Khan is already in Manila ahead of his blockbuster matchup next week at ONE: Conquest of Champions, on November 23 at the Mall of Asia Arena.
At the official media Open Workout held at the Victoria Sports Tower in Quezon City, Khan stood face to face for the very first time with former lightweight king Eduard “Landslide” Folayang of the Philippines.
By all accounts, it appears that both martial artists are physically and mentally ready to give their best performance yet in the ONE cage.
“It has been a long journey for me. I've worked very hard for this. Ever since I started this journey, I have had one goal in mind and that's to be champion. Everything I have done so far has been to work towards achieving that dream,” said Khan.
Khan, who holds the record in ONE Championship for most finishes at 10 and the most knockouts in the promotion at 8, will be pitting his Muay Thai stylings against Folayang’s wushu. As such, fans can expect an exciting battle.
Perhaps even more significant is the fact that the winner between Khan and Folayang will determine the undisputed holder of the ONE Lightweight World Title.
Folayang previously held the lightweight title when he won it in Singapore in a 2016 technical knockout of Shinya Aoki, but surrendered the title a year later to Australia’s Martin Nguyen.
After Nguyen was compelled to vacate the title due to prolonged injury, Folayang received the opportunity to become champion again.
Khan, of course, will do his best to prevent that from happening. This is the Singaporean’s first crack at a world title, and he plans on making it count. He feels his well-rounded mix of skills should be the deciding advantage.
“I have 13 bouts in ONE Championship and 11 of those are wins. I've won my last two in exciting fashion. It's only right that I am now challenging for the World Title. I'll be facing former champion Eduard Folayang, and I'm going to his hometown, so I know it's going to be a tough challenge,” said Khan.
“He has the home crowd advantage, but I am confident of victory. I hope to be able to bring this belt back to Singapore. I foresee that I'll be the Joseph Schooling of mixed martial arts.”
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