‘Landslide’ to hit Saipan

One of three off-island fighters who will be featured in this Saturday’s “Battle Ready” arrived on Saipan yesterday and vowed to wow the growing MMA fans in the Commonwealth with his impressive mixed martial arts skills.

Eduard “Landslide” Folayang, a URCC welterweight champion, is in town to duel local pride Jerome Denard Norita in the semi main event in the Gorilla Warfare MMA-organized “Battle Ready.”

Folayang, who hails from Baguio City, Philippines, holds a 3-0 record since switching to MMA from wushu in 2007. All his wins were via technical knockout in the first round. He earned the nickname “Landslide” because of how he dominates his foes.

This Saturday’s bout will be Folayang’s first fight outside the Philippines and he is looking forward to getting his fourth win in a row.

“I am confident I can win this fight because I have been preparing for this bout for the past three months,” said Folayang, who is a physical education teacher back home.

“I heard my opponent is good in jujitsu, so I think my jujitsu training will help me counter his moves,” added Folayang, who is best known for his ground-and-pound tactic in the octagon.

Before joining MMA fights, Folayang was part of the Philippine National Team that competed in the Southeast Asian Games and Asian Games. Wushu is a modern exhibition and full-contact sport based on traditional Chinese martial arts.

The 32-year-old MMA fighter was a gold medalist in sanshu event in wushu during the 2003 and 2005 SEA Games. He also won a bronze medal in the 2003 Asian Games in Korea, and a silver in Doha, Qatar in 2006.

The 5’7” Folayang, who arrived on Saipan with coach and fellow MMA fighter Mark Sangiao, said although he is still doing wushu, he is more committed now to MMA.

“I am focusing more on MMA because of exposure. In MMA, you get to fight more and thus meet different opponents. Also, in MMA even if you are down on points in the first few rounds, you can still win the win. In wushu, it’s different. When you are down on points, it is hard to come back,” said Folayang, who idolizes “Fedor” of UFC.

The Folayang-Norita bout is among the 12 fights featured in the “Battle Ready” which will be held at the Royal Taga Hall of Saipan World Resort.

Preliminary bouts will begin at 6pm, but the venue will open at 5pm.

The main event will have Marianas Elite’s Kelvin “The Big Hit” Fitial fighting Chicago’s Ed Carpenter, while another semi main event will feature Guam’s Mike “Ogre” Davis and Charleston Aiken.

Mark Sablan, one of the organizers of “Battle Ready” said as a pre-fight offering, Gorilla Warfare MMA will be hosting a clinic on Friday with the time and venue to be announced later.

Philippine MMA celebrity and Universal Reality Combat Championship president Alvin Aguilar will be conducting the two-hour clinic.

Meanwhile, tickets for the “Battle Ready” are available at Borderline, The Set, and 670. Tickets prizes are $35 for Red Box, $35 for General Admission, and $45 for VIP.