“Great Teacher” Shozo Isojima of Japan stopped former three-time ONE lightweight MMA world champion Eduard Folayang via TKO at 4:29 of Round 1 in the co-main event of The Inner Circle 21 on Friday at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok. However, the finish was anything but clean.
Folayang’s right hand dropped Isojima early in the round, and for a brief moment the fight looked as though it could unravel entirely for the N-Trust representative.
Back-to-back losses had already put pressure on the 28-year-old heading into the night, and getting floored by a Filipino legend in the opening exchange was not part of the plan.
He got back up, answered with his own knockdown, and eventually finished the veteran on the ground for the biggest win of his career.
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Speaking to ONE Championship after the fight, “Great Teacher” was candid about how chaotic it felt from the inside:
“He took me down (with that right hand). At that time, (I) was panicking. But luckily, I recovered and put him on the ground, too. That helped a lot.”
The Japanese star added:
“I ended up winning against him by striking. But to be honest, this is my first time finishing a fight with striking. I’m very happy about that, but the situation was very up and down.”
Shozo Isojima rates his performance after career-best win
The victory moved Shozo Isojima to 7-2 and delivered the signature result he had been chasing.
However, the Japanese perfectionist wasn’t happy with his performance.
Despite the win, that didn’t stop him from being brutally honest about what he put on display.
“I want to be able to improve (the ability of) controlling the performance of the game, and also improve (my) level. I can’t be like this. I’d rate my performance four out of ten,” he told ONE.
The Inner Circle 21 replay is available for Inner Circle Superfan Club members at live.onefc.com.
Edited by Joseph Schiefelbein