John Wayne Parr might not have been victorious at ONE X on March 26, but he has a lot to celebrate following the historic event.

The Australian Muay Thai legend, who hung up his gloves directly after a three-round match with fellow martial arts icon Eduard Folayang, went to the battle to chase a 100th career victory. The 45-year-old however, had to end his career with a unanimous decision loss.

Nevertheless, his performance throughout the match has won the hearts of many ONE Championship fans, who voted for him to win the US$50,000 performance bonus.

On Instagram, Parr shared some special moments where he invited his family members to enjoy the prize.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by John Wayne Parr 🇦🇺 (@johnwayneparr)

During the special Muay Thai match to send off the fighter into his well-deserved retirement, Folayang gave a performance fit for the retirement fight of a living legend.

The former ONE lightweight champion utilized his incredible mobility and deadly wushu to outpoint “The Gunslinger” and gave the audience an explosive match in the ONE X Grand finale in the Singapore Indoor Stadium last Saturday, 26 March.

Folayang, who was making his Muay Thai debut, started strong, tagging the 45-year old with a left punch followed by a variety of body punches, spinning attacks and leg kicks. Not to be outdone, Parr got into rhythm and answered with his own left that landed clean. Alas, the Australian’s habit to start late into a match led to Folayang ending the round in his favor.

In the second round, both men started exchanging kicks as the bell rang, before the Filipino hit Parr with a well-timed counter as he was throwing a leg kick. Despite this, the Legend was persistent in throwing leg attacks while Folayang hunted for his brain basket with spinning attacks, and it was one of these strikes that sent “The Gunslinger” to the canvas and gave Folayang his first knockdown of the night.

The Filipino icon did not let up on his attack at the restart, going for Parr with wushu side kicks and straight rights. Despite the Australian hitting clean with a straight right, Folayang countered with a spinning head kick that was barely blocked.

“The Gunslinger” came back with a vengeance in the third round, starting off the final stanza with a superman punch to set the more aggressive tone of the round. Folayang was in comparison more muted in the first half of the round, content to wait and counter whatever the legend was throwing.

A huge flying knee from Parr in the midpoint of the round broke the lul from the Filipino legend and rocked him. For a moment, it seemed that the Muay Thai icon could earn his 100^th win for sure as he swarmed Folayang with hooks looking for a finish. Unfortunately, the Baguio City native is as tough as nails to put down and managed to see the end of the round.

After three rounds, all three judges gave the match to the Philippine hero, but the Australian has clearly won the hearts of the crowd with the third-round highlights being played over and over again. The Team Lakay star had kind words to say about his opponent and said that it was a privilege and an honor to send a true legend of the sport into his retirement.

Watch ONE: Eersel vs. Sadikovic on April 22 at ONE Super App and subscribe to ONE Championship on YouTube!

This article is published in collaboration with ONE Championship

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