ONE Championship: Eduard Folayang ‘not contemplating retirement’ after comprehensive loss to Antonio Caruso
- The 35-year-old Filipino loses to Australian via unanimous decision, and says ‘I made mistakes that I need to fix again’
- Lightweight contender Caruso tells ONE chairman Chatri ‘you’ve just got yourself a new superstar’
Filipino favourite Eduard Folayang insisted he is not thinking about retirement despite losing his second fight in a row at ONE Championship: Inside the Matrix on Friday night.
The 36-year-old Folayang (22-10) lost to Australian Antonio Caruso (8-1) via unanimous decision at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, although it is unlikely to push the 29-year-old up the lightweight rankings.
The unranked Folayang appeared to lose a lot of energy by the third round having already been in trouble, causing some fans to question whether it was worth continuing after going 1-4 in his last five fights.
“I’m not contemplating retirement yet. It’s just a mistake that we’ll go through again. This is one of those seasons – it’s winter time for me – so I need to readjust myself and be back in the circle again.”
Folayang said it was “a little bit hard” adjusting to fighting without the usual packed stadium, and that a head-butt towards the end of the fight killed his momentum.
“I think so, of course for a period of time. But it’s his night so you better give him credit despite everything that happened,” he said, adding that Caruso is in the right team as he pushed “to his dream to be champion some day”.
“There needs to be some assessment on myself. I really need to see what’s wrong. I’ve felt this before, it’s my mistake. Sometimes when you prepare well and the luck is there, then that’s a very good combination.”
Folayang had also lost his last fight via split decision to Pieter Buist in January. Dutchman Buist (17-4) beat Caruso via unanimous decision last October.
Caruso, who trains out of Sanford MMA alongside Aung La N Sang and Martin Nguyen, said there is a new “superstar” for the promotion’s CEO Chatri Sityodtong to book fights for.
“I feel like a million dollars. I’m super happy to test myself. I proved to myself that I’m a world-class fighter and unfortunately that puts the rest of the fighters on notice. You better watch out because there’s a spartan coming for you. I’m putting everyone on notice,” the Adelaide native said, comparing himself to “Rocky Balboa, man, the real life Italian Stallion”.
“Eduard is a veteran, but I won’t lie, I felt I had him early on and I dominated him. I saw the little flare in his eye in the last few minutes and I knew he was coming to get this. I really like him as a fighter, man. When his back was against the wall he was like, ‘I’m gonna end him’.
“[His resilience] is legendary, just like his career. He’s a warrior. I’d love to go to Team Lakay and train with their team just to see how they do it. I’ve been a big fan of their old-school mentality for a long time. He will go down as a legend.”
Caruso said he had watched a lot of fight tape alongside teammate Nguyen, who beat Folayang in 2017. He said his own family were worried about him before the fight, but now he turns to top-ranked opponents.
“Even my friends and family were worried about me. My dad couldn’t even talk to me for the last few weeks. He was so nervous to see me fight Eduard. They were saying, ‘There’s no way you could beat this guy’ and some media and fans were looking at me like, ‘This kid ain’t got a chance’ – and that’s fine. I know what I can do and credit to my team in Sanford. People don’t know what we’ve got.
“It’s not that I want to fight Pieter, I just want my own back. Everyone in that top five, I’ve got to fight the best of the best. Some people see it as throwing me to the wolves. I see it as a chance for a superstar to be born. Chatri, you’ve just got yourself a big superstar.”
