Joshua Pacio would only fight former teammate Lito Adiwang on one condition: “If it’s for a title”

Joshua Pacio said there’s only one condition that would see him face former teammate Lito Adiwang in a fight.

The former Team Lakay stablemates have said in previous interviews that they would never compete against one another inside the circle, but things could be changing after they went their separate ways.

Pacio is now one of the top fighters of the newly formed Filipino stable Lions Nation MMA, while Adiwang traveled abroad and joined HIIT STUDIO BALI in Indonesia.

Following his unanimous decision win over Mansur Malachiev at ONE Fight Night 15, Pacio said he’d only fight Adiwang if they were contending for the ONE strawweight MMA world title.

If there’s no gold on the line, then Pacio has no intentions of fighting his former teammate.

Pacio said:

“No. We answered it already. We’re not fighting, but, you know, like Lito said, if it gets to the point that it’s for a title, if one of us is a champion like that, if it's for the Philippines, then maybe. But, we said, ‘No, we’re not fighting each other.’”

While Pacio, and in turn Adiwang, set such a high parameter for them to meet, it’s not out of the realm of possibility for them to face each other in a few years.

Pacio maintained his status as the No.1-ranked strawweight MMA contender after his victory over Malachiev at the historic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium this past weekend.

Adiwang, meanwhile, had one of the greatest returns from injury when he took the ring at ONE Friday Fights 34 last month.

‘Thunder Kid’ needed just 23 seconds to send Adrian Mattheis to the shadow realm in his first fight back since tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in March 2022.

Pacio, however, must first reclaim the ONE strawweight MMA world title from Jarred Brooks in a potential rematch, while Adiwang has to climb back up the division’s stacked rankings if they want to contend for the throne.

Watch Pacio's entire interview below: