By Jun Ray Navarres
Third-ranked ONE Lightweight contender Pieter “The Archangel” Buist presumed Eduard “Landslide” Folayang was under heavy mental pressure in his last bout, resulting to the latter’s defeat.
The Dutch fighter went toe-to-toe with Folayang last January where he experienced the might of the Filipino veteran. Buist managed to scrape past Folayang in a close split-decision win.
Against Antonio “The Spartan” Caruso, Buist did not see the same Folayang he encountered inside the Circle.
“It looked like Eduard was missing some batteries. Against me he was more aggressive, more outgoing and now he was hesitating. I think he buckled under the pressure of ‘yeah he has to win this fight, because if he doesn’t win, he must stop’,” shared Buist.
“You know, for a fighter, a lot of people don’t understand, especially those who don’t fight. It’s around 85 to 90 percent mental. The rest is physical. So, if mentally you’re not there, you will lose.”
Caruso surpassed “Landslide” both in striking and grappling at ONE: INSIDE THE MATRIX last week while the 36-year old Folayang appeared sluggish resulting to a unanimous decision win for the younger fighter.
Folayang extended his setback to 1-4 in his last five outings.
Having fought both fighters in a year, Buist is convinced that Folayang’s mental state greatly affected the former lightweight king’s output.
“No matter how strong physically you are, for all the fighters, it’s the same. It’s mental warfare always. It begins with mental warfare and ends with mental warfare,” Buist concluded.
“The physical part is punching, beating, choking, you know. I think mentally, he wasn’t there. But Caruso is a good fighter. I fought him also. He’s a true warrior. He comes to fight. For him, it was the same thing. I think Caruso was, mentally, better prepared than Eduard.”
Meanwhile, Buist is set to return to action this Friday in a pre-recorded ONE: INSIDE THE MATRIX II where he will take on fourth-ranked lightweight contender Timofey Nastyukhin. ONE Welterweight World Champion Kiamrian “Brazen” Abbasov of Kyrgyzstan defending his title against undefeated American James Nakashima will be the main-event of the night.
The event will be broadcasted on One Sports+ at November 6, 8:30 p.m. Philippine Standard Time (PHT). One Sports will air the event on a same-day delay at 9 p.m. PHT. Additionally, TV5 will air the event on a next-day delay at 11 p.m. PHT.
Follow the writer on Twitter: @burnsports
