By Rafael Bandayrel
Team Lakay young gun Joshua Pacio will be the first among five reigning Filipino ONE World champions to defend a crown this year when he takes on Yosuke Saruta on Jan. 19 in the main event of ONE: Eternal Glory in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The 23-year-old strawweight king is out to prove that Team Lakay’s remarkable championship run last year was no fluke.
“This is our chance to prove that we deserve the belts that we have,” said Pacio. “It belongs here in the Philippines. We will defend it with faith and hard work.”
Saruta is a replacement for compatriot Hayato Suzuki who begged off from fighting Pacio due to his injury.
Facing Saruta, however, won’t be a cakewalk for Pacio.
The Japanese made a splash by defeating former ONE strawweight titleholder Alex Silva in his promotional at ONE: Destiny of Champions last year.
“Yosuke has really good grappling, and he is strong and physical,” said Pacio of the Japanese challenger. “[But] I am better with my striking and improved more in my ground game skills.”
Pacio had a breakout year in 2018, scoring back-to-back submission wins over Ming Qiang Lan and Pongsiri Mitsatit before capturing the strawweight crown against Yoshitaka Naito last September.
Pacio believes, however, that last year was only a preview of things to come in 2019. “I don’t think the world has seen the best of Joshua Pacio yet.”
