Aoki vs Folayang

Who won Aoki vs Folayang?

Shinya Aoki beat Eduard Folayang by submission in the 1st round during the main card of ONE 172, on Sunday 23rd March 2025 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 3 rounds in the Lightweight division, which meant the weight limit was 155 pounds (11.1 stone or 70.3 KG).

Aoki vs Folayang stats

Shinya Aoki stepped into the octagon with a record of 48 wins, 11 losses and 0 draws, 4 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 31 by submission.

Eduard Folayang made his way to the cage with a record of 23 wins, 13 losses and 0 draws, 8 of those wins coming by knock out and 1 by submission.

Shinya Aoki's One Championship record stood at 12-5-0, while Eduard Folayang's came in at 13-11-0.

The stats suggested Folayang had a large advantage in power over Aoki, boasting a 35% knock out percentage over Aoki's 8%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Aoki had a massive advantage over Folayang, boasting a 65% submission rate over Folayang's 4%.

Shinya Aoki was the older man by 1 year, at 41 years old.

Aoki had a height advantage of 4 inches over Folayang.

Aoki was the more experienced professional fighter, having had 23 more fights, and made his debut in 2003, 3 years and 7 months earlier than Folayang, whose first professional fight was in 2007. He had fought 12 more professional rounds, 96 to Folayang's 84.

Aoki vs Folayang form

Shinya Aoki had beaten 2 of his last 5 opponents.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had won against John Lineker at ONE 165 on 28th January 2024 by submission in the 1st round at Ariake Arena, Tokyo, Japan.

Previous to that, he had lost to Mikey Musumeci at ONE Fight Night 15 on 6th October 2023 by submission in the 1st round at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand.

Going into that contest, he had been beaten by Saygid Izagakhmaev at ONE Championship 163 on 19th November 2022 by knockout in the 1st round at Singapore Indoor Stadium, Singapore.

Before that, he had been defeated by Yoshihiro Akiyama at ONE Championship – One X on 26th March 2022 by knockout in the 2nd round at Singapore Indoor Stadium, Singapore.

He had beaten Eduard Folayang at ONE on TNT 4 on 28th April 2021 by submission in the 1st round at Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Folayang had beaten 3 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 2 of them, going the distance once.

In his last fight before this contest, he had defeated Amir Khan at ONE Fight Night 14 on 29th September 2023 by knockout in the 3rd round at Singapore Indoor Stadium, Singapore.

Previous to that, he was victorious against Edson Marques at ONE on Prime Video 5 on 2nd December 2022 by knockout in the 2nd round at Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Going into that contest, he had won against Wayne Parr at ONE Championship – One X on 26th March 2022 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Singapore Indoor Stadium, Singapore.

Before that, he had lost to Lipeng Zhang at ONE Championship – Battleground 2 on 13th August 2021 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Singapore Indoor Stadium.

He had been beaten by Shinya Aoki at ONE on TNT 4 on 28th April 2021 by submission in the 1st round at Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Activity check

In terms of activity leading into the fight, Eduard Folayang had been fighting more than Shinya Aoki.

Going to this contest, Shinya Aoki had last fought 1 year, 3 months and 9 days ago, while Eduard Folayang's last outing had been 1 year, 7 months and 8 days ago.

Aoki's last 5 fights had come over a period of 4 years and 9 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 9 months and 21 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 6 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 1.2 rounds on average.

Folayang's last 5 fights had come over a period of 4 years and 9 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 9 months and 21 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 12 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.4 rounds on average.

What time did Aoki vs Folayang start?

The fighters were expected to walk out at around 7:10 AM UTC , which was 3:10 AM EST or 12:10 AM PST on the West Coast of America, or 7:10 AM GMT in the UK.

What were the odds on Aoki vs Folayang?

Shinya Aoki was a 2/7 (-340) favourite going into the contest, while Eduard Folayang made his way into the ring at 5/2 (+250) with oddsmakers.