LA TRINIDAD, Benguet- Team Lakay’s Jeremy Pacatiw, had a successful One Fighting Championship debut in “ONE-BATTLE GROUND” last July 30.
The La Trinidad-based ONE bantamweight fighter had a performance of a lifetime in his first fight in Asia’s premier mixed martial arts promotion showing the dangerous all-around and complete arsenals of the new breed of warriors from the famed Team Lakay Training Center.
Pacatiw danced around the cage while setting up his strikes well. His counterstrikes were always right on target, including his surprisingly impeccable wrestling skills. The “Juggernaut” was all business from the start of the fight until the end. His victory has given Team Lakay another win after the “Ferocious” Edward Kelly outpointed his Egyptian opponent earlier this year and a new additional female fighter to team Olsim won her last fight in the ONE cage.
Meanwhile, the face of the Filipino MMA Eduard “The Landslide” Folayang will headline ÖNE BATTLEGROUND” on August 13 in Singapore. He will be facing a Chinese foe in a lightweight fight. The Igorot licensed teacher and mixed martial arts phenomenon was very influential, being a champion inside and outside of the cage.
Last month, he showed his utmost support to Hidilyn Diaz in her bid for a gold medal on the Olympic stage which turned out to be a historical moment in Filipino sports. Diaz, went on to win the first Olympic gold in the 55 kg women’s weightlifting category that boosted the fighting spirit of the other Filipino athletes competing in the Olympics.
Folayang, the former two-time ONE lightweight champion, is also a veteran of the wushu Philippine team. He was a three-time Southeast Asian wushu champion, two-time Asian games medalist, and world wushu championships bronze medalist.
Folayang and Mark “The Machine” Sangiao, Team Lakay head coach and also a former MMA champion were the forerunners of the Filipino wushu-sanshou team in the early 2000s.
Meanwhile, his opponent, Zhang Lipeng, is one of the best Chinese mixed martial artists nowadays. He currently holds a record of 31-11, 22 of those won by finishes.
In addition to that, Lipeng is also an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) veteran. He once put on a back-to-back win but in 2015 he got released from the organization after losing his next two fights. After returning to China, the Chinese went on to win 21 of his 24 fights while becoming the KUNLUN welterweight champion. Eventually, he was signed by ONE Fighting Championships. – Tan Dulag
