Eduard Folayang receives the championship belt from One FC CEO Victor Cui after defeating Shinya Aoki for the men's lightweight world championship bout during 'One Championship: Defending Honor' on Nov. 11, 2016 in Singapore. (Photo : Getty Images/Suhaimi Abdullah)
Mark Striegl said his fellow Filipino fighter Eduard Folayang is going to win the fight against Malaysian fighter Ev Ting when asked about the "ONE Championship: Kings of Destiny" main event on April 21 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, Metro Manila. Ting was not happy about this and even called Striegl a clown.
"Tell that clown I will fight him as warm up before Eduard for free," Ting said referring to Striegl. It was Striegl who became the first fighter to defeat Ting on Feb. 11, 2012 at "Legend FC 7" in Macau, China.
For Striegl, Ting's "clown" comment was"hilarious." The Baguio-based fighter nicknamed Mugen said, "Ev is a joke. Eduard is going to kill him and everybody knows Kamal won that fight."
Striegl was referring to Kamal Shalorus, the last opponent Ting fought before facing Folayang. At "ONE Championship: Throne of Tigers" in Stadium Negara, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Feb. 10, Ting defeated Shalorus via a split decision.
On March 14, 2014, Shalorus defeated Folayang via a unanimous decision at "ONE FC 9: Rise to Power" at the Mall of Asia Arena. It was Folayang's fourth out of five MMA losses.
At this point, Striegl is still the only Filipino fighter who was able to defeat Ting. After losing to Striegl, Ting defeated all his Filipino opponents namely Rolando Dy, Edward Kelly, Cary Bullos, Honorio Banario and Eric Kelly.
Ting and Striegl were supposed to have a rematch at "PXC 41" at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City on Nov. 9, 2013. However, Striegl was left without an opponent during the event because Ting missed 7 lbs.
Since 2011, Ting has fought 16 MMA bouts, winning 13. Striegl won 15 out of 17 fights since 2009 while Folayang won 17 out of 22 fights since 2007.
Meanwhile, Striegl will be featured in a documentary about Baguio City, where he has been residing since 2011. Watch the trailer here:
