SUMMARY
This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.
MANILA, Phiippines – Former ONE Strawweight MMA World Champion Joshua “The Passion” Pacio believes that a lot of things are bound to change the moment he enters his rematch against reigning division king Jarred “The Monkey God” Brooks.
The two best strawweights in the world tangle for the ultimate prize in their division in one of the three World Title bouts scheduled for ONE 166: Qatar on Friday, March 1, at Lusail Sports Arena.
“After that bout, I realized that we went the whole five rounds. We reached the decision, and I wasn’t able to show my strengths in that fight,” Pacio said.
“This time it will be different. I’ll definitely be showing up. Eduard [Folayang] and coach Don don [Colas] have been in my ears since then, telling me my errors and things that I could’ve done in that first fight.”
Pacio still believes his previous loss against the American Brooks could’ve been avoided, and now he’s doing everything to make sure he doesn’t suffer the same setback in the rematch.
That all starts with the energy that his new team, Lions Nation MMA, brings to training.
Pacio now has a team that’s ready to go to war with him – as not only is he getting emotional support, all his physical needs are being addressed as well.
“As an athlete, it’s so helpful to be able to come to the gym and feel at home. You come in confident, you come in happy with the environment. It’s a big help,” he said.
“That’s one of my advantages now. I truly feel all the support from my team. We added kuya Vince [Loman] (Stephen’s brother) as our strength and conditioning coach. He’s helping me out with explosiveness and speed.
“We’re doing fight simulations. Coach Gibran Langbayan added Godwin [Langbayan] to help me out in this fight. He’s one of the best BJJ athletes in the Philippines and also a member of Sambo Philippines.”
With that in mind, Pacio is confident that he’s done enough in his camp, so now it’s all about executing the right game plan come fight night against Brooks.
“The things that we trained for, our combinations, it has to come out in that fight. That’s one thing I truly changed entering this fight, my mindset,” he said.
“I know I have to be confident. I have to realize that I’m already one of the best in the world, and there’s no better stage to show it than this fight,” he added.
“Sure, I’m fighting the best fighter in the world in my division, but I have to remember that I’m also one of the best, and I have to come in without any hesitation.” – Rappler.com
Read more from ONE Championship:
Add a comment
How does this make you feel?
There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.