ONE strawweight MMA world champion Joshua Pacio has a variety of techniques that can put away his opponents in the blink of an eye. While he occasionally enjoys throwing flashy moves, nothing beats a simple knee to the head.
'The Passion' was embroiled in a heated rivalry with Yosuke Saruta over the 125-pound MMA world championship in 2019. Saruta took the gold from Pacio in January of that year via split decision after the Filipino had just won it from then-reigning king Yoshitaka Naito the previous year.
Their world title rematch happened in April 2019 at ONE: Roots of Honor. The Lions Nation MMA affiliate regained the gold via knockout after Saruta ducked a head kick and instead caught Pacio's knee, sending the Japanese star crashing face-first into the canvas.
Check out the finish from multiple angles, which ONE shared on Instagram:
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With both fighters having one win apiece, their trilogy bout was set for ONE: Revolution in September 2021. Pacio promptly finished Saruta in the opening round and notched his third-straight defense of the crown.
Joshua Pacio set for another trilogy bout at ONE 171
Joshua Pacio appears to have a thing for trilogy fights. He is currently deep in training camp to prepare for his strawweight MMA world title unification bout with ONE interim strawweight MMA king Jarred Brooks at ONE 171: Qatar on Feb. 20.
Pacio and 'The Monkey God' split their last two meetings over the 125-pound MMA crown. They last fought at ONE 166: Qatar in March, where the 29-year-old Filipino reclaimed the throne after Brooks was disqualified for slamming him on his neck. While it was accidental, ONE's rules state that such moves were illegal.
ONE 171 will take place inside the Lusail Sports Arena in Lusail, Qatar. Fans who want to catch the action live can purchase tickets for the event via Q-Tickets.