“I don’t really think about that label” - Joshua Pacio reacts to Lito Adiwang calling him the ‘strawweight GOAT’

Undisputed ONE strawweight MMA world champion Joshua Pacio was admittedly flattered by his former teammate Lito Adiwang's latest sentiment.

'Thunder Kid' recently claimed that 'The Passion' is undoubtedly the promotion's greatest 125-pound fighter of all time.

Adiwang's comments came in the wake of Pacio's sweet trilogy victory over his eternal rival Jarred Brooks at ONE 171: Qatar last February.

The Filipino superstar squashed his rivalry with 'The Monkey God' once and for all with a resounding second-round TKO victory to unify the strawweight MMA belts.

In a recent interview with ONE Championship, Joshua Pacio thanked Adiwang for his kind words, but admitted he still has more work to do to solidify himself as the GOAT of the strawweights.

“Lito also said that I’m the strawweight GOAT, but I don’t really think about that label. I just think of how to improve as an MMA fighter."

It's not hard to agree with Adiwang's comments about Pacio's undeniable greatness. The 29-year-old has multiple world title defenses on his resume and has overcome adversity time and time again.

After Brooks took his crown, Pacio worked tirelessly to reclaim what's his and even came back stronger from a serious knee injury to put the Philippines back on top of the MMA landscape.

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Joshua Pacio targeting two-division dominance

While Joshua Pacio may indeed go down as the greatest 125-pound world champion in ONE Championship history, he also hinted at a future at flyweight.

'The Passion' revealed that it might not be ideal for his body to continue making the strawweight MMA limit, now that he's nearing his thirties.

In the same interview with ONE, the Lions Nation MMA standout gave a timeline of his possible move to the 135-pound division.

"After one or two years, if I have a hard time with weight, I think I’ll go up to flyweight because we can’t compromise my performance just to make weight. I’m a natural flyweight, and I’m the only one who can go down to strawweight fully hydrated."

Pacio continued:

"I’m still happy fighting in this weight class. I feel strong, I feel light. If I can still operate at the highest level here at strawweight, then I’ll stay."