Shinya Aoki, Olivier Coste, Eduard Folayang

Training out of Evolve MMA in Singapore, Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki, 35, of Japan is the new reigning ONE Lightweight World Champion. He earned a redemptive win over Eduard “Landslide” Folayang, 35, of the Philippines in their rematch at “ONE: A New Era,” the first ever ONE Championship event to be held in Japan.

Training out of Team Lakay in Baguio City, Philippines, Folayang was the defending champion in the main event of “ONE: A New Era,”  which took place at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan on March 31, 2019. The fight card featured 11 mixed martial arts bouts and four ONE Super Series matches, which included two kickboxing contests and two Muay Thai contests.

After eight preliminary bouts and six main card bouts, which include three co-main events, the crowd at the Ryogoku Kokugikan finally witnessed the rematch between Folayang and Aoki. Olivier Coste served as the referee while the three judges were Jonathan Lai and Ian Cartwright, both from Canada, and Joey Lepiten from the Philippines.

Coste put a stop to the contest after 2 minutes and 34 seconds in the first round. Aoki submitted Folayang via arm triangle.

Winning at “ONE: A New Era” improved Aoki’s professional MMA record to 43 wins and 8 losses. On the other hand, Folayang now has 21 wins and 7 losses.

Including the Philippines and Japan, 19 countries were represented at “ONE: A New Era,” which is the first ever ONE Championship event to take place in Japan. The other countries represented were Australia, Brazil, Cyprus, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Netherlands, Russia, South Korea, Thailand and the United States.

Aoki was one of the six fighters from Japan on the “ONE: A New Era” card. Folayang was one of the three fighters from the Philippines.

Watch all the “ONE: A New Era” bouts here: