Former ONE Champions Kevin Belingon and Eduard Folayang Announce Their “Emotional” Departure From Team Lakay After Training for Sixteen Long Years in the Institute

Kevin Belingon and Eduard Folayang are both household names to ONE Championship viewers. The former ONE Bantamweight champion, Belingon, and the former two-time ONE Lightweight champion, Folayang, had put up a number of superb performances inside the ONE circle in their signature, red-colored, ‘Team Lakay’ shorts. But recently, both Filipino fighters took similar decisions which might shock a lot of ONE Championship viewers.

Initially, the 39-year-old Folayang announced his parting with his long-time training institute, ‘Team Lakay’. He was also followed by his 35-year-old countrymate, Belingon, as he, too, revealed his departure from ‘Team Lakay’. Both fighters used their Facebook profiles to publicize their decision of training somewhere else post their departure from ‘Team Lakay’.

The losing streak of both Eduard Folyang and Kevin Belingon might have lured this decision

It’s pertinent to note that both ‘Landslide’ and ‘Silencer’ were on a shocking five-fight losing streak. Many fans might perceive that the Filipino fighters were experiencing a shortage of quality training in their ‘Team Lakay’ facilities, which was costing their bouts to them. This, in turn, may have compelled them to look for other options to find better training.

Folayang, co-incidentally, the elder of the two, became Belingon’s predecessor in announcing his separation from ‘Team Lakay’. He took to Facebook and penned an unusually long caption to his post.

Some of his lines from the caption read, “For the last 16 years of my professional career as a mixed martial artist, I was in the company of brave and talented individuals in Team Lakay. But as the oft saying goes, all good things must come to an end. Sadly, and with a heavy heart, my journey with Team Lakay has reached its final stretch.”

He also expressed his thankfulness to all his coaches, co-athletes, and partners at ‘Team Lakay’. Folayang opinionated that every member of the team had an immense contribution towards developing him into a more well-rounded martial artist. ‘Landslide’ also described that he needed to step out of his comfort zone to achieve a few more accolades within the few years of his already long career.

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Folayang also received a thankful reply from the 43-year-old, Team Lakay founder, Mark Sangiao, who had been a major part of Folayang’s martial arts career to date.

Kevin Belingon followed his co-fighter & countrymate within less than 24 hours

Folayang was shortly followed by ‘Silencer’ Belingon, as he too, decided to walk away from ‘Team Lakay’ in search of some better training. By this point, it was clear that the demotivating five-fight losing streak of both fighters was the actual reason behind their exit.

Belingon also took his own Facebook account and retraced the way of his stablemate Folayang. He too wrote quite a long caption to the post notifying his decision to quit ‘Team Lakay’. Belingon also reverberated with Folayang’s feelings as he commemorated his journey with Team Lakay through his words.

Some lines of Belingon’s caption read, “Even beautiful things have endings…but it does not mean that beautiful beginnings are not coming! Memories are memories. Friendships are Friendships. And, life goes on. I would like to make a public statement that I’m no longer with Team Lakay. Leaving the team makes me emotional because it has been my home for the last 16 years. But, at the same time I look forward for what lies ahead.“

The emotional state of Belingon and Folayang was quite understandable. Sixteen years is a pretty long time indeed.

Folayang won his first ONE Lightweight Championship in 2016 with a TKO victory over the Japanese legend, Shinya Aoki. He also claimed it for a second time defeating the Singaporean, Amir Khan, in 2018.

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Whereas, Belingon initially claimed the ONE Interim. Bantamweight title in 2018 defeating the noted, Martin Nguyen. Later in the same year, he unified his belts to crown himself the undisputed ONE Bantamweight champion, defeating the then Bantamweight champion, Bibiano Fernandes.