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ONE: Folayang to take on Eddie Alvarez in Manila in August

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ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/news-special1/sports/11/26/folayang-112616.jpg"/></figure></div>MANILA, Philippines – After losing his lightweight championship last March, Filipino mixed martial arts star Eduard Folayang returns to action on August in ONE Championship&#x27;s &quot;Dawn of Heroes&quot; fight card at the Mall of Asia Arena.Folayang, who surrendered the lightweight belt to Shinya Aoki via submission at ONE: A New Era, will take on former world champion Eddie &quot;The Underground King&quot; Alvarez in a highly anticipated bout.A four-time lightweight world champion, Alvarez is the only man in history to have claimed world titles in Bellator and the UFC. He is intent on cementing his status as an all-time great by also capturing the ONE Lightweight World Championship.However, he hit a stumbling block in his ONE debut, as he ran into Russian knockout artist Timofey Nastyukhin. Now Alvarez is on the comeback trail, and will need to defeat Folayang if he hopes to reinvigorate his chances at the ONE World Title.Demetrious Johnson back in actionAlso seeing action in the fight card is the showdown between Demetrious &quot;Mighty Mouse&quot; Johnson and Tatsumitsu &quot;The Sweeper&quot; Wada of Japan in a semifinal match of the ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://sports.abs-cbn.com/onechampionship/news/2019/06/10/friendship-pushes-team-lakay-s-pacio-kingad-better-57636">READ: Friendship pushes Team Lakay&#x27;s Joshua Pacio and Danny Kingad to be better</a></li></ul>A 12-time flyweight world champion, Johnson is widely considered one of the greatest pound-for-pound mixed martial artists of all time. In 2018, after completely dominating the highly competitive North American scene with a record-setting run of 11 World Title defenses, Johnson decided to make ONE Championship his new home as part of a landmark deal.Johnson made his ONE Championship debut last March when he took on Yuya Wakamatsu. &quot;Mighty Mouse&quot; overcame a spirited effort from his opponent to win by submission in the second round, advancing to the tournament semifinals. Now, another Japanese warrior in Wada awaits.Wada started his training with karate at his father&#x27;s insistence, and he later added judo to his growing skill set in high school before taking second place in a state tournament.Wada was inspired to train to compete in mixed martial arts after watching some events on television, and he began training at the famed Yoshida Dojo after relocating to Tokyo in search of better training.Nicknamed &quot;The Sweeper,&quot; he went a stellar 11-1 while twice capturing the flyweight world title in Japan&#x27;s DEEP organization and took an eight-bout winning streak into his ONE Championship debut.In his most recent outing, Wada overcame a spirited effort from Cuba&#x27;s Gustavo Balart, advancing to the semi-final round of the tournament to face Johnson.Kingad and Banario look to advanceIn another ONE flyweight world grand prix semifinal bout, the Philippines&#x27; Danny &quot;The King&quot; Kingad goes up against former ONE world champion Kairat &quot;The Kazakh&quot; Akhmetov of Kazakhstan.In a ONE lightweight world grand prix semifinal bout, former ONE featherweight world champion Honorio &quot;The Rock&quot; Banario of the Philippines steps in for the injured Lowen Tynanes to take on Russia’s Timofey Nastyukhin. Both men are looking to advance to the final round of the high-profile tournament.Former ONE world title challenger Reece &quot;Lightning&quot; McLaren of Australia is back in action, this time taking on Japan&#x27;s Yuya &quot;Little Piranha&quot; Wakamatsu in a flyweight contest.Both McLaren and Wakamatsu are looking to bounce back after early exits in the ONE flyweight world grand prix last March in Tokyo. A victory for either means redemption, and moving further up the flyweight ladder.For more sports coverage, visit the <a href="http://sports.abs-cbn.com">ABS-CBN Sports website</a>.

After losing his lightweight championship last March, Filipino mixed martial arts star Eduard Folayang returns to action on August in ONE Championship's "Dawn of Heroes" fight card at the Mall of Asia Arena.

After losing his lightweight championship last March, Filipino mixed martial arts star Eduard Folayang returns to action on August in ONE Championship's "Dawn of Heroes" fight card at the Mall of Asia Arena.