ONE Championship: Eddie Alvarez Needs To Overcome Landslide Or Else

Come Aug. 2, ONE Championship heads to Manila, Philippines for ONE: Dawn of Heroes at the Mall of Asia Arena with plenty of interesting cards. But if there is one match that is bound to capture much attention, it would be the one involving former UFC fighter Eddie "The Underground King" Alvarez and Team Lakay's Eduard "The Landslide" Folayang.

The two mixed martial artists will face-off in the semifinals of the ONE Lightweight World Grand Prix with Folayang enjoying the home-court advantage. Those are added odds against Alvarez who is still searching for his first ONE Championship win.

Ironically, both Alvarez and Folayang are coming off losses in Japan. Alvarez fell to Timofey Nastyukhin via shocking first-round knockout, while Folayang fell to grappler Shinya Aoki, relinquishing the ONE Lightweight World Championship in the process. As one can see, both are looking for redemption although Alvarez seems to have a bigger chip on his shoulder.

But if his recent reveal via the Manila Bulletin is to be believed, the 35-year-old seems unfazed with it all. He singles out how he lost to Donald Cerrone in his UFC debut but managed to bounce back. In short, he has been there and knows what to do.

“I go out there and I’ve given my all every time, but I think at every once in a while it’s good to take a loss and put the fire back in your belly, and I think it’s a good time to have that. Sometimes you need that fire to burn long enough to get to that World Title,” he said.

Against Folayang, however, he faces a formidable foe. Like Alvarez, the Team Lakay star is looking to redeem himself and is fully aware that he has the hometown crowd behind him. In fact, he promises a performance of a lifetime, Tempo Sports reported.

"This will be an explosive fight,” Folayang said. “What I can promise is that this will be a great fight because we’ve worked hard for it during training.”

Folayang admitted that Alvarez is a household name. He knows that for him to pull off a win, watching out for his wrestling and boxing skills are a must. Regardless, he is confident of his chances against the him.

“A knockout and submission will always be there if you are in the proper position – that is a given,” he said. “I think it will end in a knockout.”