“He really throws stuff without knowing” - Brandon Vera a fan of Joshua Pacio’s ‘unpredictable’ striking

Both former ONE heavyweight world champion Brandon Vera and current ONE strawweight world champ Joshua Pacio will be fighting on the same card this weekend. The two Filipino MMA icons will be performing in front of their countrymen in Manila, Philippines at ONE 164.

'The Truth' will face Iranian heavyweight powerhouse Amir Aliakbari on the main card while 'The Passion' will defend his belt against Jarred Brooks in the main event.

There is mutual respect and admiration between the two striking specialists. Particularly Brandon Vera, who has said in interviews that he is a huge fan of Joshua Pacio's striking acumen. In an interview with The MMA Superfan on YouTube, 'The Truth' spoke about his admiration for Pacio's striking skills:

"His [Pacio's] striking is unpredictable. I don’t even think Joshua knows what he's gonna throw sometimes. He just throws it. I think he really throws stuff without knowing until it’s done."

Pacio seems to be operating on instinct once he reaches his flow-state of striking. Like what Vera said, it would be hard to read and prepare for his attacks if he himself had no preconceived patterns for himself coming in. It eliminates his "tell" and makes him effectively unpredictable.

Watch the full interview here:

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Brandon Vera plans to stick to his striking against Amir Aliakbari at ONE 164

It sounds like Brandon Vera will be leaning on his own striking repertoire against Amir Aliakbari this weekend at ONE 164. Aliakbari is a former Greco-Roman world champion and is known for his strong grappling prowess.

Though he has an extensive background in amateur wrestling, Vera uses his high-level kickboxing skills to defeat even the most seasoned strikers, including former world champions.

With that said, it's a safe bet that 'The Truth' will lean heavily on his stand-up game against Aliakbari. Brandon Vera said:

“I absolutely love the ground. During my career I haven’t really shown too much on the ground, I haven’t really got to do very much. I just haven’t been a fan of groundwork in MMA. I’ve always wanted to be standing and people argue, ‘Why don’t you just kickbox?’ Man, because if somebody rings my bell, I wanna have options. At least give me an option.”

MMA is essentially a game of options. It's about choosing the best route to victory and having one or two alternatives in case the first one fails. If Vera's kickboxing doesn't get the job done, at least he has his wrestling to force the fight to the ground and make Aliakbari work off his back.