Folayang, Pacio to test waters in US after leaving Team Lakay

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Former ONE Fighting Championship kings Eduard Folayang and Joshua Pacio will embark on a new journey a month after leaving Philippine-based MMA stable Team Lakay.

The two legendary fighters of Team Lakay are in Albuquerque, New Mexico to restart with the Jackson Wink MMA Academy.

The prestigious MMA gym is handled by two of the most-sought coaches in the sport, Greg Jackson and Mike Winklejohn.

This is Folayang’s second training in the US as the former ONE lightweight champion set his training camp in the states in 2018 when he prepared for his clash against Amir Khan.

Folayang fought for Team Lakay for nearly two decades and was mentored by legendary mentor Mark Sangiao since the early 2000s.

The wushu specialist quickly made a name for himself in the promotion after outdueling Shinya Aoki to clinch the ONE lightweight championship belt.

Meanwhile, this is Pacio’s first time training on US soil and is looking to absorb the new learnings he could get to reclaim his spot in the ONE strawweight rankings

Pacio was once Team Lakay’s most successful MMA fighter after reigning in the strawweight division, racking up momentum-boosting wins for three-straight years.

The crafty all-around fighter successfully defended his belt five consecutive times before losing at the hands of Jarred Brooks during the main event of ONE FC 164.

Pacio is still determined to regain his lost championship belt and is only 27 years of age carrying an impressive 19-4 win-loss record in ONE FC.