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Former 2-time ONE strawweight MMA world champion Joshua Pacio will make his return to action at ONE Fight Night 15 on October 6. It will be the first time 'The Passion' will fight again since losing his belt last year at ONE 164. Needless to say, the Filipino superstar will be hungry for redemption.
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This is not the first time Pacio will make an attempt to get back into world title contention after losing his throne. The Filipino dynamo did exactly this back in 2019 when he starched Yosuke Saruta at ONE: Roots of Honor. It was quite a spectacular performance that won him the strawweight throne back.
ONE Championship posted a throwback video of the fight on YouTube:
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"Before former ONE Strawweight MMA World Champion Joshua Pacio faces unbeaten Russian phenom Mansur Malachiev at ONE Fight Night 15 on Prime Video, relive his shocking head-kick knockout of Japanese star Yosuke Saruta in their second World Title encounter in 2019!"
The Pacio-Saruta rivalry for the belt was one of the most intense in ONE Championship history. Though their conflict with each other was purely out of their pursuit for gold, the fights between the two warriors were fiercely contested.
In the first bout, Saruta narrowly defeated Joshua Pacio via a split decision, earning him the ONE strawweight MMA world title. The Filipino bounced back in the immediate rematch, winning via a nasty head kick. The win, however, was not without some serious adversity.
The second bout, much like the first, was razor-close as the Japanese world champion was absolutely game and prepared to answer all of Joshua Pacio's Wushu-based attacks. It took one mistake by Saruta - a poorly-timed overhand right - for Pacio to find the opening to starch him with a nifty roundhouse kick to the dome.
After tying the series, the two met again in a rubber match which Pacio won again via stoppage in the first round.
Watch Joshua Pacio try to get back to the world title picture when he takes on Mansur Malachiev at ONE Fight Night 15. ONE’s tenth Amazon event of the year will air live in US primetime on October 6 from Bangkok’s Lumpinee Stadium. Prime Video subscribers in North America can watch this full card free of charge.
