Folayang-Aoki III approved for ONE on TNT IV

Folayang. Aoki. One more time.

Run it back, one more time.

The fourth edition of the ONE on TNT series scheduled for April 29 was tweaked, with a couple of fighters getting sidelined for different reasons. As a result, former ONE Lightweight World Champions Eduard Folayang and Shinya Aoki will face off for the third time, to likely settle things once and for all.

The one called "Landslide" had been slated to face off against Yoshihiro Akiyama, but "Sexyama" had to pull out due to injury. Meanwhile, the man called "Tobikan Judan" was scheduled to fight Sage Northcutt, but the latter had to step aside due to COVID-19 health and safety protocols. With both fighters without opponents, ONE Championship opted to put those two together as a new matchup for ONE on TNT IV, the last of a four-part special series which will take place at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Folayang shares, "This will be a monumental test for me. It’s a sudden change of our preparation, but I’m a professional athlete, so I have to be prepared for anything, at any given time. I have to be ready to calibrate for what will be served for that perfect aim." The Team Lakay standout adds, "I am not a pessimistic person, and I’m a warrior. Naturally, I’m not expecting to lose, but to get the big victory this time."

Aoki shares the same sentiment. "This is the last event of the 'ONE on TNT' series, so it’s meant to be, and it’s going to be a great one for fans. A lot of people have been waiting for this trilogy with Folayang. Looking back at the past two fights against him, I am very motivated to perform well. This fight is a great one for ONE Championship. I think this fight has a lot of meaning. It's fate that we meet again. As always, I will fight anyone, because I am a proud wrestler and fighter."

The first meeting back in 2016 saw Folayang secure a third round technical knockout to become the ONE Lightweight World Champion. The second meeting saw Aoki end Folayang's second title reign in 2019, doing so through an arm triangle choke submission.

Folayang-Aoki III is part of the undercard for ONE on TNT IV, which features current ONE Light Heavyweight World Champion Aung La N Sang defending his title against Vitaly Bigdash.