ONE Championship’s “Battleground II” event happens on Friday in Singapore and one individual keenly eyeing it is reigning world strawweight champion Joshua “The Passion” Pacio.
Mr. Pacio, 25, is particularly interested in the co-main event featuring fellow strawweights Miao Li Tao of China and Alex Silva of Brazil who are in pursuit of having the title that the Team Lakay stalwart has.
Messrs. Miao and Silva collide in a three-round contest which could determine who Mr. Pacio faces next.
The Filipino champion sees an exciting fight in Battleground II but thinks the outcome leans more on the side of former world champion Mr. Silva.
“The fight between Miao Li Tao and Alex Silva is surely a thrilling bout. Miao is a very aggressive and explosive athlete, but Alex on the other hand is very dangerous, especially on the ground,” Mr. Pacio said.
He was speaking based on experience since his last title defense in January 2020 was against Mr. Silva where he was given a tough time before winning by split decision.
“I learned a lot when I faced Alex last year. He’s always a dangerous opponent and I think if we’d face each other again, I’d have to show more aggression, much loaded striking, and I’d throw a lot of combinations to be able to eke out a decisive win,” he said.
While Mr. Pacio has not fought since he faced Mr. Silva, he said he has been staying active and continuously working on his game.
“The wait continues, but as I wait, I’m continuously improving. I’m very excited and I cannot wait to get back inside the ONE Circle to show how well I have improved,” he said.
Mr. Pacio (17-3) went on to say that the strawweight division has shored up with quality challengers from the field, but he expressed his readiness to take on all comers.
“ONE’s strawweight division just got more stacked because of the athletes’ constant improvement and them continuing to level up their game. They’re all very hungry and with that, the competition just gets tougher and tougher,” he said.
“This is the reason why we are more motivated to train and get better every day.”
ONE: Battleground II is headlined by Mr. Pacio’s teammate Eduard “Landslide” Folayang against ONE-debuting Zhang Leping of China.
It can be seen over One Sports at 9 p.m. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo