ONE strawweight MMA world champion Joshua Pacio has endured quite a bit in his illustrious journey in ONE Championship. It included coping with tough techniques employed by his opponents throughout fights.
Amongst these got here early in his marketing campaign within the “House of Martial Arts” in a strawweight conflict in opposition to fellow Filipino fighter Roy Doliguez. ‘The Ardour’ noticed himself taking two fingers within the nostril as he went for a submission end.
The setting was ONE: Legends of the World in November 2017 in Manila. Pacio was seeking to bounce again after dropping in his earlier struggle. He made issues occur early, in a position to put his opponent in a guillotiune choke within the opening spherical.
Desperately attempting to flee the choke, Doliguez bought maintain of the face of Pacio and put two fingers within the nostril of the then-Group Lakay standout, even poking the latter’s eye within the course of. The referee stepped in to present Pacio time to assemble himself whereas handing Doliguez a yellow card for his motion.
Get the most recent updates on One Championship Rankings at Sportskeeda and extra
ONE Championship not too long ago went to the archives to highlight that individual occasion, sharing it on Instagram.
In the long run, nevertheless, it was Joshua Pacio who had the final chortle. Incensed over what occurred, he picked up the ante after, finally scoring a knockout victory 38 seconds into the second spherical, with a well-timed spinning backfist.
The win additional solidifed Pacio’s standing as a power to take care of within the strawweight division. Then lower than a yr later, he went on to grow to be the brand new strawweight king by defeating erstwhile world champion Yoshitaka Naito of Japan by choice.
Joshua Pacio goes for two-division glory in subsequent struggle
The Instagram submit of ONE Championship was according to Joshua Pacio’s scheduled match later this yr, the place he’ll attempt to grow to be a two-division MMA world champion.
The Lions Nation MMA famous person is to battle reigning flyweight king Yuya Wakamatsu for his belt at ONE 173: Superbon vs. Noiri on Nov. 16 on the Ariake Enviornment in Tokyo, Japan. He’ll attempt to add the gold within the 135-pound division to the strawweight strap already in his possession.
Getting into ONE 173, Joshua Pacio has received three straight matches, along with his most up-to-date win coming in February, the place he unified the strawwweight belts with a second-round TKO win over American rival and former interim champion Jarred Brooks.
Wakamatsu, in the meantime, will likely be defending the flyweight belt for the primary time since changing into world champion in March.
For extra data on ONE 173: Superbon vs. Noiri, observe Sportskeeda MMA and ONE Championship.
Edited by Saiyed Adeem Karim
