One Championship: Masters of Fate gives Team Lakay chance for 2019 redemption
- Joshua Pacio, Eduard Folayang and Geje Eustaquio look to end year on a high for Filipino stable
- ‘It’s been a roller coaster. We hope to prove to the world we are one of the best,’ says coach Mark Sangiao
It’s fair to say that 2019 hasn’t been kind to Team Lakay.
Heading into January, the Filipino mixed martial arts stable had four world champions. After a tumultuous 10 months they are down to one.
Joshua Pacio will defend his strawweight title at Masters of Fate in Manila on Friday night. But even he lost his belt – to Yosuke Saruta in January – before regaining it in April.
“It’s been a roller coaster for our team. At the end of this year we hope we will regain those losses and prove to the world we’re one of the best,” Team Lakay coach Mark Sangiao told the Post.
Geje “Gravity” Eustaquio also lost his flyweight title in January. Kevin Belingon and Eduard Folayang then dropped the bantamweight and lightweight belts, to Bibiano Fernandes and Shinya Aoki respectively, at One: A New Era in Tokyo at the end of March.