Joshua Pacio expects "a big challenge" from Mansur Malachiev: “I’m not looking past him”

Filipino MMA superstar Joshua Pacio knows that he is in for a tough fight against Mansur Malachiev when he meets him inside the ring this Friday, October 6, inside the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

This crucial strawweight bout is part of the exciting ONE Fight Night 15 card that will be headlined by the ONE interim featherweight world championship between Thanh Le and Ilya Freymanov.

Before he faces the up-and-coming Russian fighter, the Lions Nation MMA representative gave his honest opinion of Malachiev’s debut victory over his Filipino compatriot Jeremy Miado in June 2023 at ONE Fight Night 8, where the 27-year-old defeated ‘The Jaguar’ via first-round submission.

‘The Passion’ shared this in his interview with South China Morning Post, saying:

“I think it was an awesome performance. Awesome. And that’s why they put him in the top five. That performance against a tough opponent like Jeremy Miado, it was a spectacular performance.”

The former ONE strawweight world champion doubled down on the idea that he isn’t taking Malachiev lightly and that he is fully focused on executing his fight plan to secure a victory.

Pacio added:

“He’s a tough opponent. He’s undefeated, so I’m not looking past him. He’s a big challenge for me. If I set up my game plan properly i am going to get the knockout or via unanimous decision.”

A victory for the former divisional king will almost assure him of a world title rematch against former tormentor and now current undisputed world champion Jarred Brooks in the foreseeable future.

ONE Fight Night 15 will emanate from the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, this Friday. The entire event airs live in U.S. primetime free of charge for Amazon Prime Video subscribers in North America.