Eduard Folayang during his Lightweight MMA match against Edson Marquez of Brazil for ONE Championship held at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City on December 3, 2022. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News/File.
MANILA -- Eduard Folayang knows he cannot afford to take Amir Khan lightly as "Landslide" gears up for his return fight on September 30 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Folayang will battle Khan in a rematch at ONE Fight Night 14: Stamp vs. Ham, and the former lightweight world champion assures that he is by no means overconfident.
"Of course, di naman natin minamaliit yung talent niya," said Folayang, who is tipped as the favorite heading into the match.
The Filipino MMA icon defeated Khan in their first meeting, taking a dominant unanimous decision win when they faced off at ONE: Conquest of Champions in 2018 where he reclaimed the lightweight world championship.
But Folayang points out that Khan has gone through plenty since then.
"Looking at him sa mga previous fights niya, nakikita ko yung pagbabago sa galaw niya. His mental aspect, nag-iba na rin kasi nagkapamilya na siya so there's maturity sa emotional aspect sa kagustuhan niya sa pag-achieve ng goals niya," he said.
Khan has been inconsistent in his last six fights, trading wins and losses including his last defeat against Keanu Subba at ONE 16: Ok vs Lee II in August last year.
For Folayang, this makes Khan all the more dangerous as he knows his foe will enter the ONE Circle with nothing to lose and everything to gain.
"Ako rin naman, di ako nagre-relax," he stated. "We're preparing well and I know he'll be doing a lot in this upcoming fight so we're not taking him lightly."
Folayang enters the bout on the heels of a five-match losing streak, the most recent of which was a stoppage loss to Edson Marques at ONE on Prime Video 5 in December 2022.