"It’s a relief" – Joshua Pacio shares turbulent build-up to Mansur Malachiev fight

Former ONE strawweight MMA world champion Joshua Pacio fought and won over Russia's Mansur Malachiev in October but admitted preparing for it did come easy because of the many issues he had to deal with along the way.

Among them was his transition to a new team after deciding to leave his longtime home of Team Lakay. He joined his other stablemates, which included Eduard Folayang and Kevin Belingon, in their new camp, Lions Nation MMA.

The move came as he was gearing up for his showdown with Malachiev, which had added pressure as he was coming off a loss in his previous fight.

In said match, Joshua Pacio was put through the wringer by the Dagestani wrestler with his expert grappling game. But the Filipino standout fighter was able to fight his way through it, banking on his superb striking skills and shored-up ground game, which weighed a lot in him coming up with the victory.

In an interview with ONE Championship, Pacio recalled what he went through in the lead-up to the Malachiev fight, saying:

“The Mansur fight, it's a sigh of relief for me with all the things that happened to me this 2023. Going up to that fight, I had a lot of things going on in my mind. I was telling you guys, ‘I am focused, I am focused,’ but leading up to that fight, it was really tough to focus, especially with what happened behind the scenes.”

He added:

“Thank God we got the win, and when they raised my hands, I just exhaled. With everything that happened, all I can do is exhale. After that, it’s such a good feeling that you’re not really worried about things anymore.”

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Joshua Pacio looks to pick up things in 2024 with Lions Nation MMA

Now settled with Lions Nation MMA, Joshua Pacio looks to pick up things in his ONE Championship campaign in 2024, which kicks off in March at ONE 166: Qatar.

There, he will battle ONE strawweight world champion Jarred Brooks in a title rematch. It is set to take place at ONE’s first-ever live on-ground event in Qatar, happening on March 1 at the Lusail Sports Arena in Lusail.

‘The Passion’ seeks to exact payback on Brooks, who seized the strawweight MMA gold from him by way of unanimous decision in December 2022.

Heading into the rematch, Pacio said he will build on on the stability he has found in Lions Nation MMA, telling ONE Championship in an interview:

“It’s a relief. This is really my team. Now, I go to training sessions really happy, I’m more focused and I’m just so excited entering 2024.”

Prior to losing the ONE strawweight MMA world title, Joshua Pacio successfully defended it three times.