2018 was certainly a remarkable year for Team Lakay, but ONE Strawweight World Champion Joshua “The Passion” Pacio believes that the best is yet to come for the fabled stable out of Benguet.
Pacio will be the first among four ONE World Champions in Team Lakay to defend a World Title when he takes on Yosuke Saruta of Japan in the main event of ONE: ETERNAL GLORY in Jakarta, Indonesia on Saturday, 19 January.
The 22-year-old prodigy is convinced that winning belts last year is just the start for Team Lakay. With hard work and dedication, he is confident the group will continue their winning ways in ONE Championship.
“For me, 2018 has been absolutely amazing, especially for our team, but it’s only the beginning. I am still young, hungry, and determined, despite having the belt around my waist,” Pacio said.
“My main goal, of course, is to defend my title to the best of my ability. Right now, I am set to defend my title against another tough Japanese opponent in Yosuke Saruta.
“Getting through that will be the first step. I’m still evolving and developing as an athlete. I don’t think the world has seen the best of Joshua Pacio yet.”
Pacio has heard enough of the talks that martial artists from Team Lakay struggle when the match hits the ground. He certainly showed heightened improvement in that aspect after submitting Lan Ming Qiang and Pongsiri Mitsatit in the first round of their respective bouts last year.
He then capped off that amazing year with a clear-cut unanimous decision victory over crafty submission artist Yoshitaka “Nobita” Naito to win the ONE Strawweight World Championship at ONE: CONQUEST OF HEROES in Jakarta, Indonesia.
“A lot of people said in the past that Team Lakay has no ground game. We worked very hard to change that, despite our meager resources. Like we love to say, it’s not Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. It’s Baguio Jiu-Jitsu,” Pacio said.
As he continues to grow with his team, “The Passion” is convinced they are more than capable of defending those titles and prove that 2018 was just merely the tip of the iceberg for Team Lakay.
“This is our chance to prove that we deserve the belts that we have,” Pacio explained. “It belongs here in the Philippines. We will defend it with faith and hard work. We research, study, and learn. We adapt, and we apply.”
“I am so proud to be a part of Team Lakay and to represent my country on the global stage of ONE Championship,” he added. “I will do everything I can to keep the title.”
