WHILE Jeremy “The Juggernaut” Pacatiw had an impressive debut at ONE Championship against Chinese star “The Ghost” Chen Rui late last year, he knows that his career can get a whole lot better.
Jeremy Pacatiw in ONE: Full Circle
The up-and-coming Team Lakay sensation is raring to show his full arsenal when he takes on #4-ranked bantamweight Fabricio “Wonder Boy” Andrade at ONE: FULL CIRCLE on 25 February at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
The 25-year-old believes that moments of doubt hindered him from having a better debut.
“I learned that hesitating will do me no good. I have to be more decisive. As coach Mark [Sangiao] told me, ‘Hesitation is cancer.’ So, in this fight, I have to trust myself more,” Pacatiw shared.
“I have to build the confidence that I can land those critical strikes when the opportunity presents itself. So yeah, one thing that I’ll be bringing in this fight is killing instinct.”
While he’s happy with the triumph, he knows he could have finished Chen if only he had taken advantage of the openings.
“I believe I could have finished him. In the first round, I started out pretty well. But then when he began stopping my takedowns, I didn’t have a plan B.”
With Chen behind him, the wushu sanda expert plans to be more assertive by keeping the movements that helped him and adding more aggressiveness to his approach.
He might even take the bout to the canvas if need be.
“Yeah, why not?” he responded when asked if he plans to go for the takedown.
“I have to keep my options open. This is mixed martial arts, so I have to be well-rounded. If the situation calls for it and an opportunity opens, maybe I’ll go for the takedown. Maybe by mixing things up, I can throw him off his game and confuse him.”
He’s hoping to get the finish versus Andrade, but he won’t be forcing the early result.
“A win is a win, so I’ll take anything. But, of course, I’ll be looking at that finish. Hopefully, I get a knockout or submission,” the Benguet-based fighter expressed.
“At the end of the day, the goal is to win whether it be via submission, knockout, or even decision.”
ONE Championship returns to live action with ONE: FULL CIRCLE on 25 February. Download the ONE Super App for free to catch it live.
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