Eduard Folayang vs Wadson Teixeira Confirmed for URCC Cebu 7

by James Goyder on Dec 28, 2011 3:14 AM EST

The URCC announced earlier this month that Eduard Folayang would be fighting in the Philippines for the first time since 2010. In something of a surprise move his opponent was confirmed earlier today as Brazilian Muay Thai champion Wadson Teixeira.

Teixeira won the Brazilian >65 kgs Muay Thai title in 2001, 2003 and 2007 and in 2005 he defeated four separate opponents in one night to win the Gladiator Muay Thai tournament in Sao Paulo. He has put his Muay Thai career on the backburner in recent years to focus on MMA and trains at the Nova União under Andre Pederneiras and alongside Jose Aldo, Diego Nunes, Ronny Torres and Johnny Eduardo.

After the fight he will be returning to Thailand to train with Ole Laursen at the Legacy Gym in Ubon Ratchatani but Teixieria says he has been working on his ground game every day at Nova Uniao and now has a brown belt in BJJ, making him the most dangerous grappler Folayang has ever faced.

The Brazilian, who has bulked up to 74 kgs since his competitive Muay Thai career, believes that with his stand up skills and ground game he is more than capable of causing an upset against Folayang,

"I was very happy with the opportunity Eduard is a great fighter but I am confident I can beat him. I'm very well trained and confident in my work, I train hard every day and that makes me comfortable in any fight."

For his part Folayang is on an impressive five fight win streak and coming off a fight of the night win over highly rated Korean A Sol Kwon at ONE Fighting Championship 1. Teixeira is nowhere near as experienced an opponent but has won his last two MMA fights and his skill set could pose some problems for the Filipino.

Although Folayang has a long term contract with ONE FC, the ambitious promotion which has rapidly risen to become the biggest in Asia, he is being allowed to return to fight for the URCC because they are a part of the ONE FC Network. The network also includes Dream in Japan, CFC in Australia and Road FC in Korea and we have already seen a couple of ONE FC fighters feature on a Road FC card.

The fans in Cebu will be the main benefactors of this network as they get to see their hero fight on home soil for the first time in almost two years. It will be a clash of styles between the Brazilian Muay Thai and BJJ specialist and the Filipino Wushu exponent and although Folayang will be the clear favourite Teixeira certainly has the tools to cause an upset.

Most importantly it will be a homecoming for Folayang, the most recognizable mixed martial artist the Philippines has ever produced, who after creating headlines all over the world with his international performances will be looking to put on a show for the promotion which gave him his big break.

Cebu 7 "Dominate" takes place on January 13th 2012 at CICC in Cebu City. Also on the card will be Carry Bullos vs. Rex Delara for the Visayan Bantamweight Championship , Geronimo Etac vs. Victor Torre for the Visayan Pinweight Championship.

For more information visit www.urccmma.com.

The FanPosts are solely the subjective opinions of Bloody Elbow readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bloody Elbow editors or staff.

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Comments

Interesting matchup

This is probably going to be an exciting fight. I do have some qualms about Wadson’s lack of mma experience, but it sounds like he is a pretty active in other sports. I think it’s great that muay thai guys are transitioning to the sport, but it’s going to be hard to root for him against Folayang.
Folayang takes this, but there should be some explosive striking. Do you know if sherdog’s fight finder record of Wadson (which lists him as 3-2) is accurate? Or are there other unrecorded mma matches he’s had?

Btw, thanks again for the coverage. Do you have your own mma blog or do you just post here?

by Robert V-U on Dec 28, 2011 3:28 AM EST reply actions

Ole Laursen

Also, any word when Ole is going to fight again??

by Robert V-U on Dec 28, 2011 3:29 AM EST reply actions

The last i heard Ole was supposed to be fighting on the One FC card in Jakarta in February.

I don’t know about Wadson’s record, if Brazil is anything like Korea in terms of getting results recorded he could have had quite a few more fights.

I agree that Eduard is the favourite but I think Wadson is a dangerous opponent for him.

by James Goyder on Dec 28, 2011 3:44 AM EST reply actions

Do you think Wadson is going to be more dangerous than Colossa? If I recall correctly Colossa managed to drop him a couple times

by Robert V-U on Dec 28, 2011 4:01 AM EST up reply actions

I think he could be more dangerous because of his BJJ. Colossa’s Muay Thai caused Folayang big problems but he was able to nullify it by repeatedly taking him down in the first two rounds.

Wadson’s Muay Thai won’t be quite as a good as Colossas but Folayang will have to be very careful he doesn’t get caught in a submission and might want to think twice about shooting for the takedown.

If it stays standing Wadson, being a Brazilian Muay Thai champion, is not exactly going to be out of his depth. it’s definitely a challenge for Folayang.

by James Goyder on Dec 28, 2011 4:08 AM EST up reply actions

I am curious to see who will be in Wason’s corner. I noticed he finished his last fight by armbar, so that makes this more interesting.
I’ll be rooting for Folayang, but I hope he comes prepared to fend off submissions, though I think it’s likely he chooses to stand with Wadson

by Robert V-U on Dec 28, 2011 5:30 PM EST up reply actions