JOSHUA Pacio seeks to extend his dominance in his weight class as he defends the ONE Strawweight World Championship against archrival Yosuke Saruta at ONE: Revolution on Friday in Singapore.
Pacio vs Saruta III
The 25-year-old bet is coming off a 20-month layoff, but is hell-bent on proving that he's still in tip-top shape as he aims to maintain his standing as the king of the strawweights.
"Ipapakita natin na wala yung ring rust. Ganoon pa rin tayo, nagi-improve pa rin araw araw at syempre, gusto natin mapanatili na may Pilipinong champion dito sa ONE," said 'The Passion'.
More than the ring rust, Pacio also wants to show that he no longer feels any after effects after battling the dreaded COVID-19 back in March.
"Naka-recover na tayo at wala akong ibang ginawa kundi mag-training after kong maka-recover," he said.
Saruta, however, is driven to win this trilogy, especially after suffering a fourth round knockout in their second match back in April 2019.

"I want to knock him out," the no. 1 contender from Korea said. "I want to take him into deep water and show that I'm the better fighter."
Aside from Pacio, also making his return to the ONE Circle is Team Lakay's strawweight rising star Lito "Thunder Kid" Adiwang who meets Chinese foe Hexigetu in the lead card.
Roel Rosauro also meets American James Yang in a featherweight showdown in the curtain raiser.
ONE Lightweight World Champion Christian Lee headlines the card as he defends his crown against no. 3 contender Ok Rae Yoon, while Mehdi Zatout challenges ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing World Champion Capitan.
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