Eduard Folayang and Joshua Pacio are on their way to the US. The former ONE Championship title holders recently quit their long term camp of Team Lakay.
They have wasted no time in finding a new camp but it isn’t exactly local. The two men are flying to the US to train at Jackson Wink and King’s MMA.
Their friend and team mate, Jeremy Pacatiw was also part of the Team Lakay exodus, was at the airport to wave both men off:
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New regime
This will not be Folayang’s first training trip to the US. In 2018 he spent time training at Jackson Wink in Albuquerque ahead of his lightweight title defence against Amir Khan.
Folayang’s title reign has long since ended. The Filipino has not won a MMA fight since 2019 and turns 39 at the end of the year.
He is hoping that a change of training regime will help inspire an unlikely renaissance. Pacio is also coming off a loss but his last seven fights have all been title matches and he won five of them.
At the age of 27 he still has a long career ahead of him. Pacio dropped a decision to Jarred Brooks at ONE 164 and was comprehensively outwrestled by the American, that is one area of his game he might look to improve while stateside.
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Amicable split
The news that fighters like Folayang, Pacio, Kevin Belingon and Honorio Banario were leaving Team Lakay sent shockwaves through the MMA scene in the Philippines. The exact reason behind the split remains unclear although it appears to have been amicable.
They have all been training together at another gym in Baguio. But it appears that Folayang and Pacio both have bigger plans and will be looking to work with some of the best fighters in the US in Albuquerque and Huntington Beach.
It won’t be all work for Pacio and Folayang. They will both be in the US for ONE Fight Night 10 which is set for Broomfield on May 5th and are expected to be cageside for that event.
