By Michael Angelo S. Murillo, Senior Reporter
SINGAPORE — What has been a banner year for Benguet-based Team Lakay was further souped-up on Thursday night when it was among the big winners at the 2018 Global Martial Arts Awards here, including for Gym of the Year.
An event dedicated to recognizing contributors to the tremendous exponential growth of mixed martial arts, and martial arts in general, the Martial Arts Awards was held at the JW Marriott in Singapore where a summit also happened that gathered various stakeholders of the discipline.
Team Lakay was recognized for climbing significant heights in 2018 that saw it produce three world champions, namely flyweight Geje “Gravity” Eustaquio, strawweight Joshua “The Passion” Pacio, and interim bantamweight champ Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon, who was to attempt to be the undisputed world champion in his division later Friday against reigning champion Bibiano “The Flash” Fernandes of Brazil in “ONE: Heart of the Lion.”
The thriving Filipino gym beat out American Kickboxing Academy, American Top Team, Evolve MMA, Tiger Muay Thai, Tribe Tokyo MMA, and TriStar Gym for the award.
Members of Team Lakay were also feted with Mr. Pacio winning Submission of the Year for his impressive victory in the first round over Pongsiri Mitsatit in Manila in July.
Coach of the Year went to Team Lakay head Mark Sangiao while Martial Arts Hero of the Year was veteran fighter Eduard “Landslide” Folayang.
In an interview with BusinessWorld after the award ceremonies, Mr. Sangiao said they never expected to win gym of the year but nonetheless something they accept with much honor.
“We’re happy to have won four awards tonight. We share these with our fans and sponsors who have supported us from the start up to now,” said Mr. Sangiao.
“The Year 2018 has been a good one for us. I cannot really describe how I feel. We’re just happy. We’re going to do our best to live up to such high standard, showing the skills of our athletes and hopefully we can continue to succeed next year,” he added.
For Mr. Folayang, the former ONE lightweight champion who is out to reclaim his title, the hero of the year honor only serves to inspire him to work harder not only inside the cage but outside of it as well, inspiring people to be the best that they can be.
“I’m happy to accept this award. I would like to thank my family and my team for being with me throughout. This award only represents the start and beginning of a never-ending journey of discipline, hard work, perseverance, and pushing for an even higher standard,” said Mr. Folayang in his short message after receiving the prestigious award.
Other nominees for hero of the year were Angela Lee, Aung La N Sang and Martin Nguyen of ONE Championship, Daniel Cormier and Henry Cejudo of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and Tenshin Nakusawa of Rizin.
Mr. Folayang returns to action on Nov. 29 in Manila against Singaporean Amir Khan for the vacant ONE lightweight title.
Other winners at the 2018 Global Martial Arts Awards were Stamp Fairtex (Breakthrough athlete), Olivier Coste (Referee of the Year), Andy Nguyen (Walkout of the Year), ONE: Kingdom of Heroes (Event of the Year), Lee Ji Na of ONE (Ring Girl of the Year), Manabu Takashima of MMA Planet (Martial Arts Journalist of the Year), Mr. La N Sang (Male Athlete of the Year), Ms. Lee (Female Athlete of the Year), Nong-O Gaiyanghadao (Muay Thai Athlete of the Year), Tenshin Nasukawa (Kickboxing Athlete of the Year), Mr. La N Sang versus Ken Hasegawa (Bout of the Year), and Brian Ortega (Knockout of the Year).
