AFTER having five World Champions in ONE Championship in 2018, the Philippines is left with just one titlist in ONE Strawweight World Champion Joshua “The Passion” Pacio.
This comes after longtime ONE Heavyweight World Champion Brandon “The Truth” Vera lost his strap to Arjan “Singh” Bhullar on Saturday, 15 May, at ONE: DANGAL, leaving the Team Lakay prodigy to carry the country’s banner in mixed martial arts.
As big as that responsibility is, Pacio's not sweating it.
“Maybe there’s a little bit of pressure, but definitely not too much. It’s really all about staying focused on the goal,” Pacio said when asked about being the country’s lone ONE World Champion.
“You can see the athletes that we have right now in ONE, every athlete from strawweight to heavyweight is leveling up. You look at all the contenders in each division, each year they are getting better and better.
“Our job as World Champions is to improve one percent each day. That’s what I’m doing now, and that’s the key to keeping the World Title.”
Hot on Pacio’s heels are two of the best strawweights today in top-ranked contender Yosuke “The Ninja” Saruta and third-ranked Bokang “Little Giant” Masunyane.
Saruta, who has already split two matches with Pacio, is looking to complete a trilogy, and he’s made his case after scoring wins over Daichi Kitakata and second-ranked Yoshitaka “Nobita” Naito.
On the flipside, Masunyane made a splash in his debut after outlasting Ryuto “Dragon Boy” Sawada before knocking out Rene “The Challenger” Catalan in 37 seconds to effectively jump the line and make his presence felt in the division.
It’s an exciting matchup either way for Pacio.
“I’ve watched Bokang fight - he’s superb. He’s very athletic, and then you factor in his wrestling background. He’s really good, so it’s interesting,” he said.
“Saruta, on the other hand, of course, is looking to redeem himself after I beat him in our second match. He’s been on a roll as well.”
With those challengers lined up, it’s up to Pacio to make sure he’s equipped to clear all hurdles in front of him.
The good thing is that he has always developed his skills despite being on top for the past three years.
“Being a target is part of being a World Champion, mainly because we’re at the top of the food chain. As World Champion, I have to make sure that what they’ve seen from me in the past, they won’t be seeing from me in my future matches,” Pacio said.
“I have to make sure to always bring something new to the table, and that’s the key to holding on to the World Title for a long time.”
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