“I know what to do” – Joshua Pacio confident he can defend Mansur Malachiev’s attacks if he takes him down

Filipino strawweight contender Joshua Pacio knows that Mansur Malachiev is a noted wrestler and expressed his readiness when their scheduled showdown this week becomes a takedown match.

The two fighters will battle in a featured strawweight clash at ONE Fight Night 15 on Prime Video on October 6 in Bangkok, part of the eight-fight event happening at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium.

‘The Passion’ shared to ONE Championship in an interview that he has considerably worked on his ground game in the lead-up to the fight and that he is confident of mixing it up with Mansur Malachiev.

Joshua Pacio said:

“If I stop Malachiev’s takedowns, great. If I don’t, then now I know what to do. That’s the most important thing. Nothing’s gonna happen if you keep saying to yourself, ‘Don’t get taken down, don’t get taken down.’”

“The most important thing is knowing what to do whatever your position is in the fight – be it on the bottom, on top, or standing. Going into this fight, I can say that I’m confident because I know what to do whether I’m on the bottom defending or on the top.”

Joshua Pacio, now fighting under the banner of Lions Nation MMA, is set to begin his redemption tour after being dethroned as ONE strawweight world champion by Jarred Brooks of the United States back in December.

He enters the contest with a lot of determination to get a win in every possible way and earn another shot at the strawweight world title, which he held for a good three years.

Out to trip him in his rebound push is Russian Malachiev, who churned out an impressive opening-round submission (D’Arce choke) win over Jeremy Miado in his promotional debut in June.

The impressive victory thrust him to the No. 5 spot in the strawweight rankings, which he hopes to improve on with another victory in his upcoming fight.

ONE Fight Night 15 is available live and for free to existing Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.