“Relentless” – Joshua Pacio uses his lightning-fast hands to put rivalry with Yosuke Saruta to bed 

‘The Passion’ Joshua Pacio is the type of fighter that doesn’t make the same mistake twice.

After suffering a split-decision loss to Japanese rival Yosuke Saruta back in January 2019, the former strawweight champion made it his mission to never lose a fight against him ever again.

He avenged himself the same year with a crazy fourth-round knockout at ONE: Roots of Honor, and then one more time as a champion on September 24, 2021 at ONE: Revolution.

It must be said that the more Pacio fought Saruta, the better he got. He capitalized on Saruta’s weaknesses with his lightning-fast hands to retain his strawweight crown via first-round knockout.

In light of Pacio’s return to action at ONE 166: Qatar, rewatch Pacio’s relentless spirit against Yosuke Saruta below:

‘The Passion’ will meet reigning ONE strawweight MMA world champion ‘The Monkey God’ Jarred Brooks for a second time at the Lusail Sports Arena in Qatar, to recapture the world title he lost back in December 2022.

Despite losing to Brooks by unanimous decision, Pacio has always felt that the fight was a lot closer than it was. After all, Brooks, who hails himself as a dangerous grappler, never succeeded in submitting Pacio. With that said, it’s become an added confidence booster for the young striker, to use Brooks’ grappling against him until he scores a knockout.

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Joshua Pacio is ready to change failure into success against Jarred Brooks

Joshua Pacio has made some serious changes to his fight camp ahead of his world title rematch to Jarred Brooks this year.

The former Team Lakay striker found a new place to call home following his loss to Brooks in his home country of Manila. Now, a Lions Nations MMA representative, Pacio has noticed a growth in himself that he never thought possible.

With this new gym, he has honed in on some of the skills that needed to be sharpened - one of them included a drastic change in mindset.

He told ONE:

“It’s either you will get hit or you will get taken down. This camp has taught me to have the proper mindset. If I am one of the best in the world, I should fight like it. That’s the goal of this training camp – to fight with no hesitation.”

ONE 166: Qatar will air live on March 1 free of charge for existing Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.