Team Lakay: The future pillars of MMA scene in the Philippines

Mixed Martial Arts or MMA as a sport is not yet quite popular in the Philippines despite the
feisty nature of Filipino people (joke lang po). Compared to the fan base of well-established sports such
as basketball and volleyball, the MMA scene doesn’t receive much appreciation here in the Philippines.
However, this shouldn’t last too long because as years pass by, Filipino fighters are climbing the ranks
and are starting to gain prominence in the world of MMA. The forerunners of this rise is “Team Lakay”.

Team Lakay is a Martial arts group based on Baguio City. The team is composed of Professionals
and Novices. As of the moment, Team Lakay has over 15 professional fighters the 5 of which are division
title holders, around 50 amateur fighters who compete in local MMA events, and 150 to 200 students on
training. Six of which whose contribution is undeniably vital in the growth of the organization. Let’s call
them “The Six Pillars”.

The First Pillar: Marquez Sanguiao

Mr. Sanguiao is the founder of Team Lakay. He founded the group in 2003 when he graduated
and earned his degree in Criminology. At that point in time He was already an experienced martial artist
and has won awards in various competitions, most significant of which is the 2001 SEA games where he
became a gold medalist for the Philippine team for Wushu. Well, how did he get there you ask.

Ever since he was a kid, he have always dreamt of becoming a martial artist and like most boys
his biggest influence were famous action movies by the likes of Jean Claude Van Dame and The Dragon
himself – Bruce Lee.

His first exposure to the world of practicing martial arts began in 1995 with kickboxing then he
switched to Taekwondo in 1998 which helped further his academic studies because he became a Varsity
for the Baguio Colleges Foundation (now called University of the cordilleras).He competed in various
local events: He won the1st Benguet Invitational Taekwondo, Full Contact Martial Arts (2000) and the 5th
Wushu National Championships (2000) which is actually the reason why he became a member of the
Philippine Wushu team to compete and win in the 2001 SEA games. All of those while he was still
studying Criminology.

A year after He graduated, He was then employed by BCF where he taught at the Criminology
Department from 2004 to 2007 while coaching the wushu varsity team. He is currently taking up his
Masteral studies in Education at UC-BCF. In 2004, he became an international wushu judge after passing
the examinations for such wherein he was able to officiate several international wushu tournaments.
Impressive to say the least.

He also had a brief but decent career in the URCC (Philippine-based counterpart for UFC in
America) as “The Machine” with a record of 5 wins (1 by way of knock-out and 4 submissions), 2 losses
(1 KO, 1 submission) and 0 draw.
 He is a magnificent warrior but He truly fulfilled his role as the first pillar not inside the cage as
“The machine” but in the gym as “Coach Mark” where he trained young men such as household names
in the MMA world Eduard Folayang, Kevin Belingon, Mark Eddiva, Rey Docyogen, Honorio Banario, and
Geje Eustaquio into the men they are now. Some of them surpassed their Coach in terms of
achievements but I can’t help but grin when I imagine those excellent fighters becoming coaches and
molding the next generation of MMA. Who knows, maybe one day we have another “Pacman” but this
time inside the Octagon.

The Second Pillar: Honorio “The Rock” Banario

Honorio Banario is the URCC Lightweight Champion and ONE FC Featherweight Champion.

Banario won the URCC lightweight belt by handing Angelito Manguray the first loss of his
professional career at URCC 19. He was the underdog going into the bout but was able to dictate the
tempo of the fight and keep his fellow Filipino fighter Manguray at bay before catching the 40-year-old
dentist with a rear naked choke in the second round. Let me repeat that “the 40-year-old dentist” and as
bizzare as it sounds it is legit, search “Angelito Manguray”, he is a licensed Dentist. I’d love to write
about him but his story is for another topic.

“On January 16th, 2012 it was announced that Banario had signed with ONE Fighting
Championship and would be dropping down to featherweight for the first time in order to replace Eric
Kelly as an opponent for Bae Young Kwon at ONE FC 2 in Jakarta, Indonesia on February 11, 2012.
Banario lost that fight by rear naked choke but came back in action at ONE FC 5 in Manila on August 31,
2012 defeating Andrew Benibe via TKO in the third round. After the fight it was announced that Banario
would be fighting Eric Kelly for the vacant ONE FC featherweight belt. At ONE FC 7, Honorio defeated
Eric Kelly via TKO in the fourth round to become the first ONE FC Featherweight Champion.” (cite LEGZ,
Tapology.com)

He lost the title to a rematch with “The Japanese puzzle” Koji Oishi via way of knockout from an
unexpected right straight to knock “the Rock” down in a moment of truth fashion during the third round
of the title defense ONE FC World lightweight championship belt on the night of December 6th, 2013.
After which he continued to suffer a streak of defeat for the 5 consecutive fights he has had.

With a Pro record of 14-7-0 , Honorio is claiming every opportunity he can to redeem himself
and put himself in atop the pedestal of the Lightweight Division once again.
The Third Pillar: Geje “Gravity” Eustachio

ONE Flyweight World Champion Geje Eustaquio trains at the famed Team Lakay, and sharpens
his skills among His fellow Team lakay fighters. He entered kickboxing at the age of 14, and soon
transitioned to wushu, eventually being invited to join the Philippines national team and like “Coach
Mark”, this earned him a wushu scholarship to the University of the Cordilleras, where he graduated
with both a Master’s Degree in Physical Education and Bachelor’s Degree in Education.

Upon graduating, Eustaquio then embarked on a career as a teacher, but his heart yearned for
action, prompting him to quit and pursue his martial arts dreams. He made his professional cage debut
in 2011 a successful one, winning by first-round TKO. The following year, he signed with ONE
Championship, and claimed several impressive wins over top contenders to earn a shot at the inaugural
ONE Flyweight World Title against Adriano Moraes.

Though unsuccessful in his first try, Eustaquio remained steadfast in his pursuit of a world
championship, establishing himself as one of the top competitors at both flyweight and bantamweight
over the course of his career in ONE Championship. Finally, his dreams came true when he defeated
former titleholder Kairat Akhmetov for the ONE Interim Flyweight World Championship. He would then
defeat Moraes at a bout in Macau to unify the titles and be crowned the undisputed flyweight king.

With a pro record of 11-6-0, Eustachio is still hungry and in one of his interviews before a fight
he states his almost war cry line “Do not miss the chance to witness when the good becomes better and
the better becomes the best, Bring it on!”.

The Fourth Pillar: Joshua “The Passion” Pacio

He is the former ONE Strawweight World Champion. He started developing interest in martial
arts at 12 and it became “the passion” that he pursued successfully. He won several national wushu
tournaments in the Philippines before he transitioned to mixed martial arts. Like a lot of Filipinos, his
father worked overseas to support his family. Growing up in the absence of his father has led to some
tough times and instead of drowning himself in vice, he chose to turn towards the discipline of martial
arts.

Pacio learned to be more independent, and the training toughened him up to become a better
person. Overweight as a child, Pacio also credits martial arts for helping him to shed the excess pounds,
turning him into the elite athlete he is today. After an undefeated amateur career, Pacio soon made his
professional debut, where he went 6-0 before making it to the global stage of ONE Championship. After
an adrenaline-inducing rise against pros, Pacio challenged Yoshitaka Naito for the ONE Strawweight
World Championship in 2016. Naito at the time was at the top of his game (his record was 11-0-0) and
he successfully defended his title against our boy -- Pacio.

Despite being defeated in his first World Title bid, he remained positive by training even harder
with Team Lakay. In September 2018, all of Pacio’s perseverance paid off as he exacted his revenge on
Naito via unanimous decision, and finally claimed the strawweight throne in their much awaited
rematch. However, this was short-lived as he lost the belt in his first World Title defense against another
Japanese fighter in the person of Yosuke Saruta,
Even though he lost the belt, he remains passionate in his endeavor to become the best in the
strawweight division.

The Fifth Pillar: Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon

ONE Bantamweight World Champion Kevin Belingon hails from a town called Kiangan in the
Philippines’ Ifugao province. His childhood was spent with fishing in riverbanks and helping his father toil
their land. He grew up in a place and time where children played outdoors and as a result he was
introduced to the traditional wrestling style of bultong at an early age, as this was the game of choice of
the kids in their area. Their life in the mountains was simple. However, the vast forest area of his
hometown was a safe haven for bandits and militants, and clashes with the military were frequent. At
age four, Belingon survived one of these clashes together with his family. It was a pivotal moment in his
life that helped fuel his desire to pursue martial arts, and use his voice for the greater good. Inspired by
the legendary Bruce Lee, he began training in martial arts and proved talented enough to be awarded a
wushu scholarship to the University of the Cordilleras, prompting him to move to Baguio.

While martial arts was a hobby growing up, it became a passion by his college years. At 17,
Belingon found wushu, he inevitably began training at Team Lakay under famous Filipino coach Mark
Sangiao. After perfecting his wushu skills, he began expanding his arsenal, and made his professional
mixed martial arts debut in 2007. After turning professional in 2007, Belingon tore through the
competition put before him, amassing an impressive 9-0 record over four years, capturing a local
flyweight title in the process after beating opponents from all across Asia. This caught the attention of
ONE Championship, which signed Belingon in 2012. Belingon also earned a degree in Criminology, but he
put his career in law enforcement on hold to focus full-time on being a martial artist.

Belingon lost a couple of fights but kept bouncing back and kept improving fight after fight.
Along his way to redemption he was given a shot at ONE Bantamweight World Champion Bibiano
Fernandes’ title in early 2016. Unfortunately for Belingon, the Brazilian immediately grounded him, and
forced him to submit via “kimura” (A submission similar to a keylock or Americana that occurs when an
opponent's arm is isolated and cranked behind their back, thus putting immense pressure on their
shoulder) with barely a minute left in the opening round.

After falling to the Brazilian legend, Belingon became obsessed and worked on plugging all the
holes in his game in order to become a complete fighter. He became a knockout artist that has won
every single bout since that defeat, he went on a winning streak against several top contenders, all of it
in order to capture the ONE Interim Bantamweight World Title. Until once again, they face in the same
cage but Belingon was no longer the fighter which Fernandes has once schooled, This time around he
was prepared. 962 days after losing out to ONE's most dominant World Champion ever, He redeemed
himself by ending the incredible eight-year winning streak of Bibiano Fernandes at ONE: HEART OF THE
LION. In a gritty back-and-forth affair, “The Silencer” showcased his improved grappling game, finding
his way out of countless dangerous situations on the ground. He punctuated the fifth and final round
with some scintillating striking to emerge victorious, winning via split-decision to become the
undisputed ONE Bantamweight World Champion.
The sixth Pillar: Edward “Landslide” Folayang

ONE Lightweight World Champion Eduard “Landslide” Folayang triumphed over one of the
toughest paths to becoming a champion. Born in Baguio, he was raised under tragically impoverished
circumstances, Out of the nine of the Folyang siblings, five passed away due to measles. Their first did
not survive. Neither did their third, fourth, fifth and seventh. Losing one child is enough to torment a
parent for a lifetime. The Folayangs lost five.

Wanting a better life for their family, his illiterate parents understood the value of education,
and made sure their surviving children all went to school despite the crippling poverty they faced. To
help lessen their burden, the Igorot warrior used martial arts as a way to help pay his own way. Little did
he know it would unlock even greater opportunities. Folayang started training wushu and boxing when
he was 16 years old under the tutelage of head coach Tony Candelaria, who helped him to improve his
skills and discipline. During this training period, Folayang and his father went to the cemetery to vist his
siblings. There they stood and mourned over the graves of three girls and two boys, most of which never
even made it over 18 months old. Eduard looked back at the time he was too young and too naïve to
recognize the lines of grief beneath his mother’s eyes. This realization only made him more driven.

He received a scholarship to the University of the Cordilleras, joined the Philippines Wushu
Team, and won several gold medals to become a national hero. Folayang graduated from the University
of Cordilleras in 2006, and passed his exam to become a teacher. He began teaching English and Physical
Education, but six months in, decided to quit to pursue his dreams in martial arts. “Landslide” then
transitioned to mixed martial arts under the instruction of Mark Sangiao at Team Lakay, and captured a
Filipino Welterweight Championship in his June 2007 debut. Folayang’s star then rose in Singaporean
promotion Martial Combat, which led to a main event spot at ONE Championship’s inaugural show in
September 2011.

Five years later, Eduard Folayang, entered the ONE Championship cage opposite Japanese
martial arts legend, Shinya Aoki, as the underdog. In the second round, the Filipino made an exciting
comeback, leading to a scintillating third-round finish via flying knee to ground and pound. Inarguably, it
was one of the biggest upset victories of the year as Eduard Folayang was crowned the ONE Lightweight
World Champion.

After successfully defending his belt against Ev Ting, Folayang’s childhood hero Manny Pacquiao
called him “one of the legends of mixed martial arts in the Philippines,” and confirmed the Filipino’s
superstar status. Though he lost the belt to Martin Nguyen in 2017, “Landslide” stormed back with three
straight wins over top contenders to once again capture the ONE Lightweight World Championship in
front of a roaring Manila crowd.

When you watch him fight, you realize there’s something deeper than his desire to win. You see
a soul bracing every punishment being served to him, like someone jumping of high altitude, he is
always on the brink of losing due to his high-risk high-reward style of fighting. When he was fighting for
the lightweight championship belt against Aoki. You would see that he was giving it his all during the late
second to the early third round. He knew that if the fight went longer than 3 rounds, he would succumb
to “the puzzle’s” grip. So like a battleship on the brink of sinking, he was firing all arsenals at disposal
with kicks and punches like flying cannonballs. This made Aoki a bit wary but not scared at all. It was in
the begging of third round when Aoki dove in for a takedown, then came the glorious flying knee to
intercept it. Everyone that was watching stood up before they even realized what they just witnessed.
Aoki was stunned and he scurried to the nearest corner with all the consciousness he had left. Folayang
will not let this moment to waste as he rushed towards him and grab him by the back of the neck and
deliver the finishing blow. After a brief onslaught, the referee separated the two and declared a K.O.

When watching Folayang , whether he wins or loses. Know that he will give you a show.