By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Eduard Folayang put on a show despite fighting under the Muay Thai discipline, the fighting style of his opponent, and won against the Australian MMA legend John Wayne Parr during ONE X.
Parr, a 10-time Muay Thai champion and is already considered a living legend in the sport, couldn’t handle the quicker and crisp strikes thrown by Folayang in all three rounds of the fight.
Folayang was able to score the first knockdown of the match when he perfectly threw a heavy right-hand bomb that landed in Parr’s ear.
Despite the damage and the hard ground and pound he took, Parr managed to standup and went toe-to-toe against Folayang as if nothing happened that put the crowd to its feet in amazement.
Parr showed some signs of life in the third round when he hurt Folayang with a quick flying knee and followed it up with a pair of punches but eventually slipped.
Folayang came back to his technical Muay Thai approach and picked Parr apart with his efficient kicks where he continued to pile up the score.
“It’s a privilege of mine fighting him. He may be retiring but I’m sure martial arts is his life,” said Folayang after their clash.
Parr will be ending his MMA journey with a record of 99 wins and 35 losses and will go down as one of the most accomplished MMA fighters of all time.
Meanwhile, the legendary Filipino wushu practitioner improved to 23 wins and 12 losses and has finally ended his losing streak and will gun for another lightweight shot in the coming months.
