Jeremy “The Juggernaut” Pacatiw has been training with two quality fighters ahead of his return to ONE Championship after more than a year away from MMA competition.
Pacatiw will look for his second straight win in the promotion against Wang Shuo in their three-round bantamweight MMA bout at ONE Fight Night 21: Eersel vs. Nicolas on April 6 in Bangkok, Thailand’s Lumpinee Boxing Stadium.
Pacatiw gets quality sparring
To mitigate his time away from the ring, Pacatiw has been working with some of the best bantamweights in the promotion -- No. 2-ranked bantamweight contender Stephen Loman and former ONE Bantamweight MMA World Champion Kevin Belingon.
The pair have been giving “The Juggernaut” a real-fight feel during training sessions, something that will surely help him dust the cobwebs off.
“It’s a big help having them around. Having these two brilliant fighters in the same weight class is a blessing. They know certain things and have certain skills that they have been teaching me. They’ve also been helping out in formulating this game plan for me,” he said.
“These two men also push me a lot. They push me hard to be a better, more complete fighter. I’m blessed to have them as training partners,” he added.
“Sometimes the sparring sessions really get competitive. We’re really at our best but, of course, we have to be careful to avoid injury.”
Pacatiw confident
With two of the best bantamweights helping him prepare, Pacatiw is confident that he’ll show up – and pick up – from where he left off late in 2022.
“I feel like it’s all about staying active in training and competitions outside of MMA. There will still be adjustments of course, like the ring for example, but I believe it’s not a tough adjustment,” he said.
For Pacatiw, his worry comes in the form of being too excited to compete, and that’s something he promises to be wary of come fight night.
“Maybe I just have to be careful with being too eager to impress in that fight. The danger of not fighting for a long time is that we may get too excited and sometimes it backfires,” he said.
“So it’s all about keeping my focus, staying grounded.”
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