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Filipino champ Joshua Pacio offers new mixed rules fight for ONE Championship
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Joshua Pacio
J
oshua Pacio is one of many fans who watched the Demetrious Johnson versus Rodtang Jitmuangnon special rules Super-Fight at ONE X last month, which inspired the Filipino to offer his own format for a super-fight.
The ONE strawweight world champion was intrigued by the alternating Muay Thai and mixed martial arts (MMA) rounds and wished that the battle would feature more discipline than was used. While he praises the breakthrough, he has a super-fight idea that could garner even bigger attention from global martial arts fans.
“Maybe we can change it up to, round one [for] pure striking, round two [for] pure grappling, round three for wrestling and then the fourth will be MMA,” the Team Lakay representative said.
“I feel I want to try that, and not only me, [some of my teammates] Lito Adiwang and Danny Kingad would also want to try that.”
Read also: Malaysian Star Jihin Radzuan wants Zamboanga rematch to settle unfinished business
The 26-year-old Filipino star has also expressed his interest in facing Johnson, the 12-time flyweight world champion who defeated Rodtang in a mega-fight via a second-round rear-naked choke. Despite being known for his prowess in the stand-up department of the mixed martial arts game, Pacio wants to test himself and go against an opponent feared for their grappling skill.
“For me, I really want to grapple with DJ, maybe we can do a submission grappling [match]. I want to test myself against him in a straight 12-minute grappling match. I think that would be a memorable 12 minutes of my life,” the ONE Championship strawweight king said.
“I’ll prepare for [the match], and make sure that it won’t be a walk in the park for him, and I’m excited to showcase my grappling against him. At the same time, I’ll also learn a lot from the GOAT [greatest of all time.]”
Despite being a member of the legendary Team Lakay, which is full of elite strikers, “The Passion” has collected nine wins with his slick submission skills throughout his MMA career.
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This article is published in collaboration with ONE Championship
