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ONE Championship: Eduard Folayang wants Eddie Alvarez rematch
In August of 2019, Filipino mixed martial arts icon and two-time ONE Lightweight World Champion Eduard “Landslide” Folayang came painfully close to recording what would have been the biggest win of his MMA career when he faced former UFC and Bellator Lightweight World Champion Eddie “The Underground King” Alvarez in a high-stakes lightweight matchup. The winner would earn a spot in the ONE Lightweight World Grand Prix Finals against Turkey’s Saygid Guseyn “Dagi” Arslanaliev at ONE: CENTURY in Tokyo, Japan, later that year. Early in the first round, it looked like Folayang was on his way to Tokyo after chopping Alvarez down with a nasty leg kick that obviously hurt the American star. What followed suit however, was a heartbreaking turn of events for Folayang, and an impeccable comeback from Alvarez. Looking to finish Alvarez off, Folayang pounced and began raining down heavy shot after heavy shot. Alvarez meanwhile, covered up and then waited for his opportunity to reverse things. Alvarez flipped Folayang over, took his back, and locked in the rear naked choke for the first-round submission win. Folayang admitted to rushing things as he was a tad bit too excited to get the finish. (READ ALSO: WHAT IF: Eduard Folayang had stopped Eddie Alvarez back in 2019?) Now, looking to make his way back up to the top of the lightweight ladder, Folayang hopes to be able to draw another meeting with Alvarez. “[If I could face anybody], it’s definitely Eddie Alvarez,” Folayang told ONE Championship’s Christian Jacinto. “I want to face him again.” As he had said before, Folayang acknowledges that he could have done a lot of things better in their first encounter. “Back in our match, I had a lot of regrets, I made a lot of mistakes…If given the chance, I believe my performance would be a whole lot better,” the Team Lakay star stated. “I definitely got careless in that match. We expected Eddie to be more of a striker, so I was confident when the match hit the ground,” he continued. Indeed, Alvarez has been known to be a brawler, which has helped him become a crowd favorite during his time in the UFC and in Bellator. Against Folayang however, Alvarez - who’s a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt under Ricardo Almeida - let his grappling and his experience shine. In the past, Folayang has shown that he can hold his own against some dangerous grapplers, as evidenced by his stunning world title win against former champion Shinya Aoki back in 2016. Folayang hopes that he can channel that same level of defense again if and when he gets to share the cage with Alvarez again. “If there would be a rematch, I’d address my issues in the ground, and hopefully, I’ll be better this time around.".....»»
ONE Championship: Angela Lee banking on grappling experience against Denice Zamboanga
Reigning ONE Women’s Atomweight World Champion Angela “Unstoppable” Lee has been nothing short of dominant at the top of the women’s atomweight division. The Singaporean star has been able to dispatch every challenger put in front of her, and when she finally steps into the ONE circle once again, Lee will face another new challenger in Filipina newcomer Denice “The Menace Fairtex” Zamboanga. Just two fights into the Asia-based promotion, Zamboanga has been impressive, posting wins over Jihin Radzuan and two-time title challenger Mei Yamaguchi. Those two outings were enough for Zamboanga to earn a shot at the queen of the atomweight division. For her part, Lee believes that it will be an great matchup. “I’m just excited to get back in the ONE Circle again. I’m feeling extremely motivated for my next matchup. I think it’ll be a great fight,” Lee told ONE Championship. In her two wins, Zamboanga was able to utilize superb wrestling and grappling to grind out victories, which poses an interesting challenge to Lee, who has put her elite-level grappling to good use as well. “I think Denice is very well-rounded,” Lee said. “She’s an up-and-coming fighter. I also think that her team did a great job in creating a smart game plan for her in the Yamaguchi fight, and she was able to execute that plan and get the decision win.” “She’s young, hungry, and well-rounded. She is the new breed of MMA fighter that can do it all. She can strike, wrestle, and grapple. But I think she may be inexperienced in certain areas of the game,” Lee added. Lee’s grappling has been her number one weapon throughout her career, winning seven of her ten career fights via submission, including her latest victory over reigning ONE Women’s Strawweight titleholder Xiong Jing Nan. Having a top-level Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt for a husband and training partner surely helps Lee’s cause. Lee is married to fellow ONE Championship athlete and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu champion Bruno Pucci. “I love training with my husband. He always pushes me hard and brings out the best in me,” said Lee. “I’m very grateful to have him as my partner in life and in training. Bruno is a second degree BJJ black belt and a two-time No Gi world champion. He has a lot of knowledge and I really appreciate everything that he shares with me.” Zamboanga definitely provides a refreshing challenge for Lee, but the reigning champion is confident in her chances of holding on to the title. “I just think it’ll be a great fight. The fans will love it. It will definitely be exciting. But when that final bell rings, you will hear the words, ‘and still,’” Lee concluded......»»
ONE Champ Christian Lee open to fight with former titleholder Eduard Folayang
Reigning ONE Lightweight World Champion Christian “The Warrior” Lee may be young, but he’s proven throughout his career that he won’t back down from a challenge. In early 2019, the 22-year old jumped up to the lightweight division and survived an early onslaught from grappling ace and former two-time world champion Shinya Aoki to dethrone the Japanese legend and become the new lightweight king. Later that year, Lee stepped up on short notice to take on surging knockout artist Saygid Guseyn “Dagi” Arslanaliev in the finals of the ONE Lightweight World Grand Prix. Lee would stifle Dagi and end up winning the tournament. Now, Lee gets ready to take on all comers as the top dog in one of ONE Championship’s most stacked divisions. Up next for the Singaporean star is expected to be undefeated Moldovian challenger Iuri Lapicus, who took out Thai veteran Shannon Wiratchai and former featherweight world champion Marat Gafurov to earn a shot at ONE gold. For Lee however, he’s ready for anyone that steps up to him. “I will defend my belt against anyone, anytime. The lightweight division is the most stacked division in ONE Championship, so I feel like it will only be right to start with the number one contender and work my way down until my division is cleared out,” Lee told ONE Championship. While not currently in the top-5 of the lightweight division, former two-time ONE Lightweight World Champion and Filipino MMA icon Eduard “Landslide” Folayang appears to be on the radar of the champion as well. “I would love to share the ONE Circle with Eduard Folayang,” Lee shared. “I have a lot of respect for all that he’s accomplished in his career, and I think that we could put on a great show for the fans.” Folayang first captured the ONE Lightweight World Championship back in 2016, stunning the world with an upset win over Aoki, becoming the first man to dethrone the Japanese star. In late-2018, Folayang bested top lightweight contender Amir Khan for the vacant world championship. “Eduard is a very good striker, and is now rounding out his wrestling and Jiu-Jitsu,” Lee added. “However, I feel that his main strengths are his heart and his killer instinct. He’s the two-time former ONE Lightweight World Champion, so he doesn’t have many weaknesses. I think he’s a great fighter.” Another name that Lee mentioned is former UFC Lightweight World Champion Eddie Alvarez, who’s one of the biggest names on ONE’s lightweight roster. “Eddie [Alvarez] has done enough in his career to make him a legend of this sport, so I would love to share the ONE Circle with him when the time comes. I think that our styles would make for an exciting fight for the fans,” said Lee. Alvarez has split his first two outings under the ONE banner, losing to Russian star Timofey Nastyukhin in his debut before bouncing back and submitting Folayang. (READ ALSO: WHAT IF: Eduard Folayang had stopped Eddie Alvarez back in 2019?) “I think that Eddie is a very well-rounded mixed martial artist. He has great striking, wrestling, and just recently displayed great Jiu-Jitsu in his last outing against Eduard Folayang. He’s a very complete fighter who does not have too many weaknesses. It would be a big mistake to underestimate his skill set,” Lee continued. Ultimately, Lee’s plan is to clear out the lightweight division before going back down to featherweight and rekindle an old rivalry against reigning ONE Featherweight World Champion Martin “The Situ-Asian” Nguyen. Lee and Nguyen have crossed paths twice before, with Nguyen coming out on top both times. “After I successfully defend my belt, I plan on going back down to featherweight to challenge Martin Nguyen for his title,” said Lee. “I am the reigning and undisputed ONE Lightweight World Champion, and also the number one contender in the featherweight division. The only reason I go back down to featherweight will be to fight for the title.”.....»»
Cong. Tolentino to lobby return of slashed 2020 PSC budget
Philippine Olympic Committee president and congressman Bambol Tolentino will lobby in the House of Representatives the return of the funds slashed from the national sports agency brought by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The Philippine Sports Commission was among the government agencies instructed by the Department of Budget and Management to slice its 2020 budget by more than half. The PSC returned P700 million out of its P900 million budget to be used in the fight against the deadly virus. PSC’s other source of fund was also severely hit by the health crisis with the dwindling remittance from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation as most of the country put under community quarantine, forcing the agency to do belt-tightening measures including slashing the national athletes’ allowances in half. Tolentino told reporters on Monday via Zoom press conference that PAGCOR has resumed its remittance. “Nag-remit na ang PAGCOR ulit. I don’t know kung mako-cover na ‘yung portion ng month na nabawasan na ang allowances,” he said. However, anticipating that the remittance won’t be enough, Tolentino announced that he will lobby in Congress the return of the diverted PSC budget. “Pero kung ‘di man ma-cover (ng PAGCOR remittance), my announcement is, not as POC president, but as a member of the House of representative, we will try to give back the amount that was taken from the PSC national development fund na ibinalik sa national treasury for the COVID-19 use. Amounting to P700 million,” said the representative of the eighth district of Cavite. Athletes are set to have their allowances cut in half starting July. “So kung ‘yun lang ang kailangan para maibalik o ma-sustain ang mawawala we will try in the House of Representatives I will lobby for it. We will try to return it in this coming second Bayanihan extension act to return the amount given to the national treasury because of the COVID-19,” said Tolentino. “Para lang ‘wag mabasawan o maibalik, para lang complete ang allowances again ng mga athletes.” The lawmaker added the athletes who brought honor and pride to the country including copping the overall championship in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games held in the country deserve to receive full financial support from the government even amid this crisis. “Ang point ko rito kasi baka di alam ni Pangulong (Rodrigo) Duterte na tinamaan ‘yung mga national athletes, ‘yung mga allowances. Baka kapag nalaman niya, ‘Huh? After giving pride and glory being overall champion sa SEA Games tapos tatamaan din sila, yung mga frontliners natin sa sports,’” he said. “Pipilitin naming ibalik ang amount na ‘yun,” added Tolentino. --- Follow this writer on Twitter, @fromtheriles.....»»
PSC vows full support to Team PHI all the way to Tokyo Olympics
Aspiring and Olympic-bound athletes will continue to receive support from the Philippine Sports Commission despite the agency’s belt-tightening measures brought about by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The Philippines already has four qualifiers for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which has been pushed back to next year, in pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena, male artistic gymnast Carlos Edriel Yulo, national boxers Eumir Felix Marcial and Irish Magno before the lockdown. The PSC board has assured that the agency will support them for as long as they can, explaining that the investment of both the government and the athletes into their Olympic dream cannot be set aside just that easily. This the PSC assures the athletes despite around P1.3 billion of its funds redirected back to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to fund the country’s COVID-19 fight. By virtue of Republic Act 11469 or the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, P596 million, and P773 million were realigned by the DBM from the sports agency’s National Sports Development Fund and the fund from the General Appropriations Act (GAA), respectively. Even with this unexpected development, the PSC will keep true to its promise to support the Filipino athletes Olympic bid. In fact, PSC Chairman William Ramirez is hoping to send more athletes to represent the country in the prestigious multi-sport event. “We will not waiver in our quest to fulfill the country’s Olympic dream and we are very hopeful that more athletes will be able to qualify once the situation gets better,” shared Ramirez. The sports agency is banking its hopes on 2016 Rio Olympics silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz of weightlifting, four-time SEA Games champion Kiyomi Watanabe of judo, 2019 SEAG double-gold medal winner Margielyn Didal of skateboarding, multi-titled jin Pauline Lopez of taekwondo, and Junna Tsukii of karatedo among others. The budget cut has forced the sports agency to take belt-tightening measures in recent weeks, to be able to cover all commitments. “It’s a tough situation but we understand the priorities of the national government. We will do what we can to continue the support we give to our athletes especially those vying for an Olympic slot,” added Ramirez. Aside from financial support, the PSC also continues to provide online sports psychology consultations, virtual training sessions, nutrition, physiology, and conditioning webinars to athletes and coaches through PSC’s Medical Scientific Athletic Services (MSAS) and the Philippine Sports Institute (PSI)......»»
Nat’l athletes, coaches get 20% discount on goods, services
National athletes and coaches can now avail of 20 percent discount on goods and services. The Philippine Sports Commission in a board meeting on Friday announced that the 20 percent discount for athletes and coaches, a provision in RA 10699, will finally be implemented as BIR issued Revenue Regulation 13-2020, dated May 27. “We have been looking forward to this and we are thankful that our athletes and coaches will finally enjoy the privilege they deserve,” said PSC chairman William ‘Butch’ Ramirez. The PSC has been working on the implementation of this privilege for a long time and have made headway with the help of the BIR last year. Effectivity of the privilege will be 15 days after publication in the official gazette or any two nationally-circulated newspapers. National athletes and coaches will also receive booklets aside from identification cards in order for beneficiaries to avail the said discounts, much like the booklet and ID being issued to senior citizens. PSC is now having the booklets prepared. Members of the national team have already been issued their IDs. Discounts shall be applied to food, medicine, recreation centers, hotels, and lodging establishments and sports equipment purchases. BUDGET CUT While the discount privilege is welcome news, the Board also tackled belt-tightening measures with much of the government’s finances diverted to address the current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The board and senior officers of the agency decided to implement a 50% reduction on allowances of athletes and coaches starting June 1 (to be remitted in July). The decision came following the diminished finances from the National Sports Development Fund (NSDF), from which the allowances are taken, because of the health crisis. The board said that this action was taken in order to sustain the granting of allowances until December 2020. “This is a hard decision to make, but one that needed to be done so we can continue caring for our athletes longer,” said Ramirez, who assured that the allowances will be restored to the present rate once the NSDF reaches a comfortable level. Last month the country’s sport department in order to cut back on expenses and reserve the remaining resources to continue its commitment to providing the allowances of athletes and coaches, discontinued contracts of sports coordinators, consultants, and JO staff......»»
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‘Our Dream’: K-pop boy band BtoB to hold fan-con in April
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