Eddie Alvarez was at risk of dropping his second straight fight in ONE Championship, then turned the tables out of nowhere and choked out Eduard Folayang.
Many expected Eddie Alvarez to find great success in ONE Championship after signing there instead of the UFC. However, he was brutally knocked out by Timofey Nastyukhin in his promotional debut in the first round of the lightweight world grand prix. After Nastyukhin was unable to continue in the tournament, Alvarez got a second chance and filled in for his former foe against the tough Eduard Folayang.
Folayang is a wushu specialist and a two-time ONE lightweight champion. He lost his title in his last bout against Shinya Aoki. Overall, Folayang is 11-5 in the promotion and has won seven of his last nine fights.
Eduard Folayang landed a few hard body kicks to start it out, then Eddie Alvarez landed a heavy overhand right after catching a kick. Folayang kept the pressure on with hard kicks. A leg kick to the shin buckled Alvarez, who fell right to his back. Folayang jumped on and started landing heavy ground-and-pound. Alvarez got a hold of a leg and reversed to take top position amidst the pressure from Folayang. Alvarez began to land his own ground-and-pound, forcing Folayang to expose his back. Alvarez flattened him out, got an arm under the chin, and somehow finished Folayang by rear-naked choke. A ridiculous come-from-behind victory for Eddie Alvarez.
Eddie Alvarez def. Eduard Folayang by Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) in Round 1 (2:16)
Eddie Alvarez will now face Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev in the finals of the lightweight grand prix after losing in his first fight and returning as a replacement.
