ONE Strawweight World Champion Joshua “The Passion” Pacio closed a massive chapter in his young career this year when he stopped Yosuke “The Ninja” Saruta for the second straight time to end their trilogy.
But he knows that there are more significant challenges ahead in 2022, especially in keeping his position as the best strawweight on the planet.
Waiting for the wushu specialist is a murderer’s row of contenders led by #1-ranked Bokang “Little Giant” Masunyane, #3-ranked Jarred “The Monkey God” Brooks, and #4-ranked Hiroba Minowa.
While all three present legitimate threats to his reign, Pacio isn’t too worried about them.
“All of them are dangerous. Since I’m on the top of the food chain, I know all those guys you mentioned are working hard to beat me, but I’ve also kept an eye on them,” the world champion with a 20-3 mixed martial arts record said.
“We’ve been reviewing their styles. We’ve been watching them, and all I can say is we’re ready for whoever is next.”
The 25-year-old revealed that he has already done his homework on the three by scouting weaknesses he can exploit and dissecting their perceived advantages.
It also helps that Team Lakay already broke down Brooks’ and Minowa’s game during their fights with Pacio’s teammate, Lito “Thunder Kid” Adiwang.
The volume of information at hand makes him prepared regardless of who he faces next.
“You guys know me. I don’t nitpick opponents. I don’t like saying who I want to face next,” the world champion with eight finishes in ONE said.
“As I’ve said earlier, I’ve been reviewing all the fights of the top five [contenders] and analyzing their strengths and weaknesses to be ready. Whoever it is, I’ll be ready.”
When that time comes, the fighting pride of Baguio City hopes to showcase his new and improved skills in offensive grappling. With a 72.7 percent finish rate, the strawweight king plans to combine his devastating striking with more aggression in takedowns and submissions.
“We’ve been working on it since the [COVID-19] pandemic [began]. We’ve been working on the confidence in the execution, especially against good grapplers,” Pacio said.
“I can’t always say, ‘Oh, I’m facing a good grappler. I have to work on my defense.”
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