Reigning ONE Strawweight World Champion Joshua “The Passion” Pacio is eager to keep his position as the division’s best, and he plans to do that by taking care of some unfinished business.
Pacio looks to put a lid on his rivalry with Yosuke “The Ninja” Saruta as they tangle for the third time in the co-main event of ONE: Revolution on September 24 for Pacio’s belt.
“I’ve always wanted this fight because I think this is where we’re headed anyway,” Pacio said.
“One way or another we have to finish this trilogy because he’s also the No. 1 contender. We might as well make it happen because I know he’ll be in this position for a long time. He deserves it.”
Aside from keeping his spot as the world’s best, Pacio also wants to break Team Lakay’s bad spell when it comes to trilogies.
While the squad has produced World Champions, trilogies haven’t been good to the squad, as Eduard “Landslide” Folayang dropped his series against Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki, while Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon and Geje “Gravity” Eustaquio also came up short against Bibiano “The Flash” Fernandes and Adriano “Mikinho” Moraes, respectively.
Pacio isn’t focused on past statistics, though. His entire focus is on becoming the best person he can be in representing his team and his country in The Home of Martial Arts.
“Being a champion, the goal is to be a step ahead of everyone,” Pacio said. “Even if it’s just one percent everyday, I have to level up. It’s something I have to show on the 24th.”
Pacio is confident that his improvement is enough to hurdle Saruta for the second time, but don’t expect him to go crazy in trying to replicate his spectacular finish in their second bout.
Part of his improvement has been maturity, and the mature thing for him to do is to follow his game plan.
“A lot of people have been telling me that I should go for the knockout like in the rematch, but if you keep on looking for that, that’s dangerous. There’s a chance that it’s you who gets knocked out,” Pacio said.
“For as long as I execute my game plan, whether it’s via decision, submission, or knockout, I’ll take it.” – Rappler.com
ONE Championship returns with ONE: Revolution on September 24. Catch all the action live and for free by downloading the ONE Super App.
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