Rank Country Gold Silver Bronze Total
    View Today
    Sun, Nov 5

    Joshua Pacio knocks out Saruta to retain ONE strawweight belt

    Pacio breaks 'trilogy curse' with an impressive first-round KO
    Sep 24, 2021

    AND still.

    Joshua Pacio retained his ONE strawweight world championship with an impressive first-round knockout of Yosuke Saruta at ONE: Revolution on Friday night at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

    Coming off a 20 month layoff, the Filipino champion went right to work as he landed a killer overhand right before plowing through the Japanese challenger that prompted the referee to stop the bout at the 3:38 mark of the first round.

    "It's been one year and eight months that I was out. It's been hard, but I'm ready and I proved that I'm here to stay," said Pacio.

    It was a beautiful counter punch from Pacio after Saruta attempted a thigh kick, with the overhead rocking the Japanese that opened the window for the reigning title holder to unload his patented killer strikes that drove his opponent to the cage.

    "We've been working on our strengths and weaknesses, as well as our counters. It's really about who's gonna find the right opening and I did it," he said.

    Sweet was this victory for the 25-year-old stud who had to endure a tough road back after recovering from his battle against COVID-19 back in March, all while patiently waiting for ONE Championship's call.

    And how fitting is it that Pacio drew Saruta, the no. 1 contender and the former champion who he had lots of history with.

    ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW ↓

    The Filipino lost the first match and the belt in January 2019 at ONE: Eternal Glory, before redeeming himself in an emphatic fourth round knockout in their rematch at ONE: Roots of Honor in April that year.

    He also broke the apparent 'trilogy curse' for Team Lakay, drawing the better end of this rivalry against Saruta, a result that has repeatedly eluded his manongs in the past.

    Geje Eustaquio lost the ONE Flyweight World Championship in his third fight against Adriano Moraes in January 2019, while Kevin Belingon was disqualified and subsequently dropped the ONE Bantamweight World Title to rival Bibiano Fernandes in March that year.

    Even former ONE Lightweight World Champion Eduard Folayang suffered the same fate, falling to Shinya Aoki in the last installation of their trilogy just last April.

    Pacio, though, showed that he's built different, ready to take the Baguio-based stable to the future while displaying that the strawweight division is still his kingdom.

    CONTINUE READING BELOW ↓
    Watch Now

    Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph

    Read Next
    Watch Now
    Sorry, no results found for
  • POLL

    • Quiz

      Quiz Result