Pacio guns for ONE strawweight title in Naito rematch

Joshua Pacio. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Joshua Pacio will have another chance at the ONE strawweight title when he faces defending champion Yoshitaka Naito in the promotion’s Conquest of Heroes on Sept. 22 at Jakarta Convention Center.

This will be the second fight between the two martial artists after Naito (13-1) successfully defended his title on Oct. 7, 2016 submitting Pacio (12-2) 1:33 into the third round with a rear naked choke.

Pacio has since won four of his last five fights and will head to their fight bringing a three-fight winning streak.

If Pacio wins the title he will join Team Lakay teammates Geje Eustaquio, the flyweight champion, and Kevin Belingon, the interim bantamweight champion, as current ONE title holders.

Pacio, 22, could also become the fifth champion that has come out of the storied stable from Baguio with Honorio Banario and Eduard Folayang having once held the featherweight and lightweight straps, respectively.

Danny Kingad (10-1), another teammate of Pacio’s, will also see action in Jakarta and will face Japan’s Yuya Wakamatsu (10-2) in a flyweight bout.

Kingad’s lone loss of his career was against former flyweight World champion Adriano Moraes in 2017 but has since moved on from the defeat and racked up two straight victories.

China’s Ma Hao Bin (10-3) will duke it out against former flyweight champion Kairat Akhmetov (21-2) of Kazakhstan.

Filipino Jomary Torres will look to extend her perfect 4-0 professional record when she faces Indonesia’s Lumban Gaol (3-3) in their atomweight bout.

Victorio Senduk (3-1) from Indonesia will look to bounce back from his last loss to Sor Sey as he takes on compatriot Sunoto Peringkat (9-4).