Mansur Malachiev says his grappling ‘is on a whole different level’ compared to Joshua Pacio

Mansur Malachiev isn’t mincing his words as he gets set to take on Joshua Pacio in a pivotal strawweight MMA showdown at ONE Fight Night 15 this Friday, October 6.

The Dagestani talent is eager to speed up his process towards Jarred Brooks’ ONE strawweight world title, and a statement win over ‘The Passion’ could be key to accomplishing his dream inside the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

Pacio’s striking could threaten his chances of maintaining his perfect promotional track record, though. But the Russian fighter is confident that he only needs to rely on his grappling, which he thinks is way ahead of Pacio’s, to get the job done.

In an exclusive interview with ONE Championship, the 31-year-old had this to say on his biggest key to victory over the ex-strawweight kingpin:

“In his arsenal, he has striking and very good wrestling defense, but my wrestling is on a whole different level. We’ll see if he can defend against it.”

If history is to go by, no one has even come close to matching Mansur Malachiev on the canvas. The grappling wizard has finished six of his eleven professional fights by way of submission, with the rest being dominant wins.

In his promotional bow at ONE Fight Night 11 this past June, the Industrial Fighters athlete brought his suffocating wrestling game to the table against Jeremy Miado, needing only 4:31 of the opening frame to force a tap via brabo choke.

However, Pacio’s anti-grappling game and proficiency on the canvas might threaten Mansur Malachiev’s chances at making it a one-sided affair.

After all, the Lions Nation MMA’s ground game has been improving steadily, and he’ll be confident of his chances to slug it out on the canvas to earn a win and a possible rematch versus ‘The Monkey God.’

ONE Fight Night 15 will be available to North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription in U.S. primetime this Friday, October 6.