By:  | November 9, 2022 2:42 pm

Eduard Folayang finally has an opponent confirmed for ONE on Prime Video 5. The Filipino will be taking on Edson Barboza at the MOA Arena on December 3rd.

Folayang had initially been slated to take on Yoshihiro Akiyama next month. But the Japanese veteran turned down the fight according to reports in the Philippines.

Folayang (22-12) has lost his last four MMA fights. But he did defeat John Wayne Parr in a Muay Thai fight at ONE: ‘X’ earlier this year.

Marquez (10-2) recently scored his first ONE Championship win at the third attempt. He beat Kyung Rok Kim by decision having been stopped on both his previous fights for the promotion.

 

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Undefeated champions

Two undefeated champions will go head to head at ONE on Prime Video 5. Reinier de Ridder and Anatoly Malykhin will face off with the former putting his light heavyweight title on the line.

De Ridder (16-0) holds the middleweight and light heavyweight belts. He had been talking about moving up to heavyweight in order to challenge for a third title.

But instead Malykhin will be moving down. He weighed in at 108.75kgs for his last fight which was at heavyweight so will need to lose just over 6kgs as well as passing hydration tests in order to challenge for de Ridder’s title.

Malykhin (12-0) holds the interim heavyweight title. He had been set to take on regular champion Arjan Bhullar and that fight was booked for ONE 161 but the Canadian appears to be injured.

Pound for pound

As previously announced Superbon Banchamek, who has established himself as the best pound for pound kickboxer on the planet after beating Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong, Giorgio Petrosyan and Marat Grigorian, will be defending his title at ONE on Prime Video 5. He puts the featherweight kickboxing title on the line against Chingiz Allazov.

The fight was originally scheduled for ONE on Prime Video 2 but was scrapped after both men ended up getting injured. It will pit the reigning champion against the newly crowned featherweight Grand Prix winner.

Allazov beat Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong by decision in the Grand Prix final at ONE: ‘X’. He stopped both his previous opponents in the opening round during the tournament.

Superbon will go down in history as the man who shocked the world by knocking out Giorgio Petrosyan. He finished the two time K-1 Max champion with a head kick at ONE: First Strike’:

Long awaited

As previously announced Roberto Soldic will make his long awaited ONE Championship debut on December 2nd. The Croatian welterweight will take on Murad Ramazanov in Manila.

The fight is set for the MOA Arena and will take place on December 3rd which is Saturday morning (local time). Soldic was one of the most sought after free agents in the sport when his contract with KSW expired earlier this year.

The Croatian was signed up by ONE Championship and looks set to be a serious contender in the welterweight division.

Winning streak

Soldic is on a seven fight winning streak that has seen him capture the KSW welterweight and middleweight titles. Six of those wins have come inside the distance and the Croatian has beaten the likes of Dricus du Plessis and Mamed Khalidov.

He also has a 4-0 boxing record with all four wins coming inside the first two rounds. Soldic was cageside to see teammate Martin Batur win at ONE 160, that victory was subsequently overturned when he tested positive for PEDs.

Ramazanov has already won three fights out of three for ONE Championship. The Russian has beaten Zebaztian Kadestam, Hiroyuki Tetsuka and Myung Ho Bae.

ONE Championship does not currently have welterweight rankings but Ramazanov would surely be #1. Kadestam is a former champion while Tetsuka and Bae have both held 170lbs titles with Pancrase and Legend FC respectively.

Homecoming queen

Denice Zamboanga will be fighting in Manila for the first time since 2018. The Filipina has been booked to take on Lin Heqin at ONE on Prime Video 5.

Zamboanga (8-2) has not won a fight in over two years. She was promised an atomweight title shot but missed out after champion Angela Lee became pregnant.

Instead Zamboanga had to settle for a spot in the atomweight Grand Prix and was eliminated by Seo Hee Ham. That decision was so controversial that an immediate rematch was ordered but the result was the same, albeit this time the Korean won much more clearly.

Heqin (15-4-1) has won two fights out of four since signing for ONE Championship. She holds wins over Bi Nguyen and Jomary Torres and her last fight was very close with Itsuki Hirata claiming a narrow decision win.

Title unification

Meanwhile Allycia Rodrigues and Janet Todd will finally fight at ONE on Prime Video 5. The fight has been several years in the making and will have the undisputed atomweight Muay Thai title on the line.

Rodrigues is the regular champion while Todd holds the interim belt. The Brazilian has been out of action for nearly two years after becoming pregnant and giving birth to her first son.

Meanwhile Todd currently holds the atomweight kickboxing and interim Muay Thai titles. The American has won her last seven ONE Championship fights and will be looking to follow in the footsteps of Stamp Fairtex by becoming an undisputed two sport champion.

Rodrigues is back at Phuket Fight Club to prepare for her first title defence. She appears to have been there for nearly three months after returning to Brazil for the birth of her boy:

Prime time

The event is set for the MOA Arena in Manila on December 3rd which will be a Saturday morning (local time). It will be broadcast live by Amazon Prime on Friday night in the US.

Later in the day ONE 164 will take place in the same venue. That card will be headlined by a strawweight grudge match between champion Joshua Pacio and challenger Joshua Brooks.

ONE on Prime Video 5, Manila, December 3rd
Reinier de Ridder (c) vs. Anatoly Malykhin (For light heavyweight title)
Muay Thai: Allycia Rodrigues (c) vs. Janet Todd (For atomweight title)
Kickboxing: Superbon Banchamek (c) vs. Chingiz Allazov (For featherweight title)
Roberto Soldic vs. Murad Ramazanov (Welterweight)
Denice Zamboanga vs. Lin Heqin (Atomweight)
Eduard Folayang vs. Edson Marquez (Lightweight)