Kamal Shalorus established himself as an immediate contender for Shinya Aoki’s ONE FC lightweight belt with a decision win over Eduard Folayang last month and the Iranian wasted no time in calling out the reigning 155-pound champion. “I would love to fight with Shinya Aoki and honestly I think it’s a good match-up because he’s a grappler, but I’m a wrestler, he cannot take me down and I can strike with him. I competed 16 minutes with Saulo Ribeiro and he couldn’t submit me, so Aoki’s not going to do anything to me. That’s a very good match-up for me; Eduard Folayang is a harder fight for me than Aoki.” It’s fighting talk from a man who finds himself back in Asia fighting for ONE FC, after a career that had been spent competing exclusively in his adopted home of America. There is no question that the recent win over Folayang has thrust him immediately into the title picture in a division that is also home to Lowen Tynanes, Ariel Sexton and Caros Fodor.
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