ONE Strawweight World Champion Joshua “The Passion” Pacio is out to make a statement in his first appearance in ONE Championship in 2020.
Pacio will defend his World Title against former belt holder Alex “Little Rock” Silva of Brazil in the main event of ONE: FIRE & FURY at the Mall Of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines on 31 January.
This will be Pacio’s second defense of his World Title. On 8 November, in his first World Championship defense, fans saw “The Passion” dispatch Rene “The Challenger” Catalan at ONE: MASTERS OF FATE.
With his confidence at an all-time high, the 23-year-old has no plans of stopping now.
“I’m happy and excited at the same time because this is a brand new challenge for me. As I’ve always said, I am ready to defend my title [against] all comers, and I am really motivated to keep this belt around my waist,” Pacio said.
“I am always happy to compete in front of Filipino fans. I want to show that being a World Champion won’t stop me on improving. In fact, it only motivates me to improve more so I can defend it for a long time.”
The man that he will be facing in Manila will not be a pushover.
Silva, a former ONE Strawweight World Champion, has been impressive as of late, earning his way back to World Title contention behind two incredible submission victories over Stefer “The Lion” Rahardian and Peng Xue Wen. The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt is one of the most dangerous grapplers in the promotion, and eight out of nine of his victories have come by way of submission. Because of this, the Team Lakay prodigy expects nothing less from his opponent.
“We all know how dangerous Silva is on the ground, that’s why I’ve been training non-stop to make sure that I am ready whatever strategy he decides to go with,” Pacio said.
But Pacio has experienced the pain of losing his World Title in the past, and it is something he does not plan to go through again.
“Becoming a World Champion for the second time gave me more motivation to improve, because I know the pain of losing the belt,” Pacio said.
“My goal is to make sure it does not happen again. They will see a more determined Joshua Pacio on January 31.”
In the meantime, The Home Of Martial Arts returns to action on 10 January for ONE: A NEW TOMORROW at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand.
Catch all the action live and for free on the ONE Super App.