ONE Championship’s return to Japan this March has a couple of former champions attached to it.
Meeting for the fourth time, former two-time ONE lightweight champ Shinya Aoki (48-11, 1NC) of Japan will take on the Philippines’ Eduard Folayang (23-13), himself a former two-time champ in the division.
Promotion officials announced the booking during the ONE Fight Night 27 broadcast on Friday, alongside a press release announcing the bout. ONE 172 takes place at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan on March 23, 2025.
Now 41 years young, Japan’s Aoki is ahead in the pair’s career series, having won their last two meetings via submission. Folayang, also 41, claimed victory in their first meeting in 2016, earning a TKO victory to claim lightweight gold. He would later lose the title to Martin Nguyen, win it back, then lose it back to Aoki, ending Folayang’s second title reign in the process.
The lightweight pair remain two of ONE Championship’s most successful athletes. Both men are coming off wins: Shinya Aoki in an openweight bout against John Lineker, and Eduard Folayang opposite Amir Khan.
ONE 172 also features a flyweight kickboxing super-fight between Thailand’s Rodtang Jitmuangnon and Japanese superstar Takeru Segawa. On the MMA side, Adriano Moraes and Yuya Wakamatsu collide with flyweight gold on the line.
