The 5 greatest moments in Team Lakay's MMA history

The name Team Lakay is synonymous with Philippine MMA. The country’s premier MMA team is composed of some of the most talented martial artists and MMA fighters in the entire Asian region. The outfit is situated at the high altitudes of Baguio City, where the group undergoes rigorous MMA training in rough terrain.

Team Lakay's unique wushu-based training, coupled with high-level wrestling and Brazilian jiu-jitsu training, has seen their athletes evolve over the years from one-dimensional strikers to well-rounded fighting machines.

This intense regimen has brought Team Lakay incredible success in the MMA cage. At one point, the team had four MMA world champions in ONE Championship, dominating from the strawweight division to the lightweight division.

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Needless to say, throughout the team’s short history, there have been numerous moments to look back on - epic achievements and accolades garnered in the MMA cage.

Team Lakay is poised to create even more epic moments and the future for the Philippine MMA group is certainly looking extra bright.

To celebrate the amazing martial arts faction from the Philippines, let’s take a look at the five greatest moments in Team Lakay’s MMA history.

#5. MMA: Eduard Folayang debuts for ONE Championship

On September 3rd, 2011, at ONE Championship’s first ever live event in history, ONE: Champion vs. Champion, Filipino MMA pioneer Eduard ‘Landslide’ Folayang made his promotional debut, taking on South Korea’s A-Sol Kwon.

Heading into the bout with a 9-1 professional record, there was a ton of hype surrounding Folayang at the time, especially in the Philippines where he built a name for himself competing in local regional promotion URCC. Conversely, Kwon was a veteran looking to establish himself in the Asian martial arts organization.

Folayang put in a tremendous performance, beating Kwon across the board to earn a hard-fought unanimous decision victory. It would be the first of many of Folayang’s great performances in the ONE Circle.

Folayang, of course, has gone on to have an incredible career, putting together more than a decade of excellence while competing at the highest level of MMA competition. He is today a multi-time former ONE lightweight world champion and a bonafide MMA legend.

#4. MMA: Joshua Pacio stops Yosuke Saruta in an exciting trilogy match

One of the younger athletes of Team Lakay’s growing MMA roster, 25-year-old Joshua ‘The Passion’ Pacio has emerged as one of the most exciting talents in ONE Championship and a dominant strawweight titleholder.

The reigning ONE strawweight world champion, Pacio captured the belt initially in September of 2018, when he defeated Japanese veteran Yoshitaka ‘Nobita’ Naito in a highly anticipated rematch.

Unfortunately, Pacio surrendered the title in his first defense against another Japanese foe in Yosuke Saruta. Pacio would regain the belt months later, getting revenge on Saruta by knocking him out with a head kick, and sparking an intense rivalry between strawweights.

Pacio went on to successfully defend the belt against Filipino compatriot Rene Catalan, and BJJ black belt Alex Silva.

Just last September, however, Pacio and Saruta ran it back once more, completing their all-important trilogy. ‘The Passion’ closed the book on their rivalry with another scintillating stoppage, this time scoring a first-round technical knockout victory.

#3. MMA: Geje Eustaquio dominates Adriano Moraes in rematch

Geje ‘Gravity’ Eustaquio challenged Brazilian dynamo Adriano Moraes in September of 2014 for the ONE flyweight world title. It was a battle between a BJJ black belt and a Filipino fighter who has continuously proven he could defy the odds.

However, the veteran Eustaquio unfortunately fell short of his goal, succumbing to Moraes via second-round guillotine choke.

Eustaquio would work his way back up the MMA ladder to secure a bout against Kazakhstan’s Kairat Akhmetov years later.

With Moraes out of action for an extended period of time due to injury, an interim MMA world title was up for grabs. Eustaquio would win by unanimous decision, capturing a portion of the flyweight belt to set up the unification with Moraes in 2018.

‘Gravity’ would then unify the flyweight titles, beating the Brazilian by split decision to become the undisputed ONE flyweight world champion, in one of Team Lakay’s greatest moments in MMA history.

#2. MMA: Kevin Belingon spin kicks Bibiano Fernandes into oblivion

Yes, you could find an MMA fighter more explosive than Team Lakay power puncher, Kevin ‘The Silencer’ Belingon. But you’d be hard-pressed to find one with more heart.

Belingon first met longtime ONE bantamweight world champion Bibiano ‘The Flash’ Fernandes in January 2016 at ONE: Dynasty of Champions in China where he lost via first-round submission. The lessons he learned from that loss transformed Belingon into a better MMA fighter, which spurred him on an incredible run.

The hard-hitting 34-year-old has terrorized ONE Championship’s 145 lbs weight class in MMA for the greater part of the last five years.

‘The Silencer’ would string together six straight victories, including wins over Toni Tauru, Reece McLaren, Andrew Leone, and former featherweight champ Martin ‘The Situ-Asian’ Nguyen to take the interim bantamweight belt.

In November 2018, Belingon finally goaded Fernandes back into the ONE Circle with him. This time, the Filipino firecracker battered Fernandes into surrender, blitzing the Brazilian with an array of spinning attacks to do extra damage. Belingon came away with a split decision for his efforts, unifying the bantamweight titles in the process.

#1. MMA: Eduard Folayang TKO’s Japanese legend Shinya Aoki

Last but certainly not least was Eduard Folayang’s November 2016 technical knockout victory over Japanese MMA legend Shinya ‘Tobikan Judan’ Aoki.

Prior to that fight, Folayang strung together a series of impressive victories. Wins over tough grappler Tetsuya Yamada and heavy-handed wrestler Adrian Pang bought ‘Landslide’ a seat at the champion’s table, and earned him a shot at Aoki, who had reigned over the division with an iron fist for years.

Up to this point, no MMA fighter in ONE Championship had been able to solve the Aoki puzzle. But it was Folayang’s destiny to do so, and he took fate by the reins.

Folayang overcame a strong effort from the former champion, punishing Aoki against the ONE Circle wall with his patented wushu strikes. As the Japanese warrior was shooting for a double-leg, Folayang caught him with a flying knee coming in. The Filipino stalwart then closed the show with a volley of right hands to force the referee to wave off the contest.

Fans at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, especially the throng of Filipino supporters who watched the fight live, erupted in a chorus of cheers for Folayang, who had just pulled off the impossible.