Eddie Alvarez Survives Early Onslaught To Submit Eduard Folayang

Eddie “The Underground King” Alvarez promised to break the hearts of millions of Filipinos at ONE: DAWN OF HEROES by submitting Eduard “Landslide” Folayang.

On Friday, 2 August in Manila, he did exactly what he predicted.

The man from Philidelphia, U.S.A., stopped the former ONE Lightweight World Champion in the first round to win their ONE Lightweight World Grand Prix semifinal match, but the victory certainly did not come easily.

Buoyed by the capacity crowd at the Mall Of Asia Arena, Folayang came out sharp as he tagged the American with a left hook on the chin and started to fire off his trademark kicks.

“Landslide” even sent Alvarez to the ground with a thunderous leg kick, and then swarmed with relentless ground and pound to the delight of the home crowd.

It looked like the end was close for “The Underground King,” but he never lost his composure, and secured a sweep to put Folayang on his back.

It then only took a few seconds for him to transition to the Filipino hero’s back, where he secured the rear-naked choke and a tap. The finish came at the 2:16 mark of the first round to improve the 35-year-old’s overall record to 30-7 (1 NC).

“I imagined this. We’ve seen this in my head. We persevered, pulled through adversity, and now we’re here,” Alvarez said.

The victory also booked Alvarez into the final of the ONE Lightweight World Grand Prix against Saygid “Dagi” Guseyn Arslanaliev at ONE: CENTURY on 13 October in Tokyo, Japan.