Keeping Team Lakay’s remaining word title is Joshua Pacio’s biggest motivation, says Mark Sangiao 

ONE Strawweight world champion Joshua Pacio has a lot on the line when he defends his world championship. Not only is he fighting to keep himself as the world champion, Pacio is representing the Philippines, his training partners, and coaches at Team Lakay.

After over a year away from competition, ‘The Passion’ will return for his fourth consecutive title defense when he faces Jarred Brooks at ONE 164 on December 3.

In an interview with ONE Championship, Joshua Pacio’s head coach Mark Sangiao spoke about what motivates his fighter. With Team Lakay’s legacy of producing top fighters, it falls on Pacio’s shoulders to keep leading the way for his teammates:

“His [Team Lakay] teammates push [Pacio] hard every single day. We now have only one world title in this gym at the moment. That’s why we’re always pushing Joshua in training to make sure that this world title does not go anywhere and stays here in the Philippines with us.”

Pacio was scheduled to face Brooks in June, but the fight was postponed until December due to scheduling conflicts. The American is unbeaten inside the circle, going 3-0 with all three of his fights taking place after Pacio’s last title defense.

It will be a tough test for Pacio’s title reign but he has all the support behind him that he needs from his elite coaches and training partners at Team Lakay.

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WATCH: Joshua Pacio's impressive 'Passion Lock' on Pongsiri Mitsatit

ONE strawweight world champion Joshua Pacio is a double threat, stepping into the circle as a Wushu specialist with an underrated submission grappling game. Back in 2018, the Team Lakay standout pulled off one of the rarest submissions you'll ever see in MMA.

Taken from his nickname, Pacio debuted the ‘Passion Lock’ in a previous fight with Pongsiri Mitsatit. The submission itself is easier to watch for yourself.

Check out the video below:

After catching one of Pongsiri’s kicks, Joshua Pacio showed off his grappling skills by securing a body lock and taking his opponent's back.

In trying to prevent the possibility of a choke, Pongisiri attempted to trap one of Pacio’s arms to take the weapon away from him. After failing to do so, Joshua Pacio pulled his opponent’s wrist and started to crank it.

By creating a tough-to-watch angle on Pongsiri’s shoulder and elbow, he was forced to submit right away, thus creating the ‘Passion Lock’. After pulling off one of the most inventive submissions ever seen inside the circle, people started to take notice of the Filipino champions grappling skills.