By Kevin Estrada
Team Lakay, the country’s premier MMA stable, will be back in the thick of things soon in ONE Championship as Chatri Sityodtong himself confirms the promotion’s homecoming in Singapore.
On its worldwide conference call for ONE: Reign of Dynasties last Tuesday, Sityodtong himself was delighted at the return to the Lion City, as it was their first event for the month of October, with the coronavirus pandemic still force them to hold their bouts behind closed doors.
Headlining Friday’s event was legendary strawweight Sam-A Gaiyanghadao, who stake his Muay Thai title against upset-conscious Josh Tonna of Australia,
“This is a huge thing for us and we’re super excited and this card itself is also a very exciting one especially for Asia,” he said.
The Benguet-based outfit is keen to get back on the cage since their homestand at ONE: Fire and Fury last January, and they are keen to be highlighted when Inside The Matrix gets its opening bell on the 30th in an undisclosed location. Chatri revealed that lightweight legend Eduard Folayang is on the main card, as he is hoping to get back on track when he takes on Antonio Caruso of Australia.
Incidentally, both of the figthers lost their recent bouts to Pieter Buist in contrasting decisions, with their battle is a sideshow to the quartet of title bouts where Aung La N San, Martin Nguyen, Xiong Jing Nan and Christian Lee are expected to be in the cage.
The rest of the card will be confirmed next week where Team Lakay is expected to have a major role in the card. A New Breed event last August with the Zamboanga siblings’ twin wins was the most recent card to have multiple Filipino fighters.
Apart from Folayang and company, the much anticipated clash for the ONE Heavyweight belt between titleholder Brandon Vera and challenger Arjan Bhullar is still on, with their bout originally scheduled last May 29 at Code of Honor was one of those events scrapped owing to the pandemic.
‘I believe they have already signed the bout agreements, and we will be making announcements for our next few cards,” Sityodtong added.
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