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NE strawweight champion Yoshitaka “Nobita” Naito of Japan is set to face contender Joshua “The Passion” Pacio of the Philippines in open training at the Jakarta Muay Thai gym ahead of the Sept. 22 ONE Championship bout that will be held at the Jakarta Convention Center.

Naito acknowledged that Pacio was among his toughest and most talented opponents he had faced and therefore he would not be surprised if one day the Filippino fighter was crowned champion.

The Japanese martial art practitioner made his debut in 2012 and he already has the Shooto flyweight and ONE strawweight titles in his pocket. Naito met Pacio in the ring two years ago, with Naito claiming victory then.

Naito admitted that Pacio had shown massive improvements over the past two years, mastering more techniques.

“But that won’t happen under my watch. This time is still mine to show the world that I still possess the required skills,” he said as quoted in a statement sent to The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Commenting on this, Pacio said beating Naito had been the main reason why he had improved his skills over the past two years.

“I am a totally different person and athlete right now. I’ll do whatever it takes to pave my way to the champion title,” said Pacio who had six consecutive wins under his belt during his amateur days.