ONE Strawweight World Champion Joshua “The Passion” Pacio quickly shut down the notion of possibly competing against teammate Lito “Thunder Kid” Adiwang.
The pair of Team Lakay stars have emerged as two of the most exciting athletes in ONE Championship, with Pacio coming out as one of the best young stars from the Philippines, dominating the strawweight division in a run that continues to this day.
Adiwang, on the other hand, started out in “Rich Franklin’s ONE Warrior Series” before taking the main roster by storm, endearing himself to fans all over the world with his pedal-to-the-metal style and his goal of always looking for a finish.
The pair’s impressive performances in The Home Of Martial Arts had fans wondering if they’d be willing to take each other on when the time comes, and Pacio was adamant with his answer.
“No. Not gonna happen,” he said.
“Of course, we value our brotherhood over everything. A brother is a brother. I don’t think that will happen. However, I believe Lito Adiwang will be a World Champion in the future.”
If the fantasy bout were to happen, it would be the third time an all-Filipino World Title main event took place after Team Lakay’s Honorio “The Rock” Banario won the inaugural ONE Featherweight World Title over Eric “The Natural” Kelly in 2013.
Pacio was part of a second all-Pinoy main event back in 2019 when he stopped Rene “The Challenger” Catalan to retain the ONE Strawweight World Title.
Asked about the possibility of facing Pacio, his teammate Adiwang admitted that he has a long way to go before getting a world title shot, but he has already spoken to Mark Sangiao about what they’ll do if that time comes.
“As I’ve always said, I still have a lot of things to go through before reaching him,” Adiwang said.
“But I’ve already talked to coach Mark about it, and we have a plan for it when we get to that point.
“I’ll just have to do the work to prove myself, beat everyone that’s in front of me, and when we’re there, that’s when we’ll address it. Let’s cross the bridge when we get there.”
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