Joshua Pacio celebrates after successfully defending his ONE strawweight world title against Alex Silva in the main event of ONE: Fire & Fury on Friday, January 31, 2020, at Mall of Asia Arena. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — Pressure is the last thing Joshua Pacio has in mind.
Pacio is the last man standing as far as ONE Filipino world champions go but the Team Lakay star isn’t putting too much into it.
“A lot of people are saying that I’m the only champion left for the Philippines. But for me, I don’t feel any pressure because that’s not what’s in my head right now. Instead, I’m more focused on improving my skills and I’m more focused on what to bring next inside the ONE Circle,” the strawweight king said.
Back in 2018, Pacio was one of five Filipino fighters with a ONE world title—four of which were from Team Lakay.
But after Brandon Vera lost the heavyweight title to Arjan Bhullar last month, Pacio now remains as the lone Filipino fighter with a belt.
The 25-year-old Pacio, though, believes it won’t be long until another Filipino joins him at the top.
“I think being the lone Filipino champion in ONE won’t take very long because I’m confident that my teammates will be champions soon. I still train under coach Mark Sangiao and I think that will preserve our spot at the top, plus we are all training with hungry young lions,” said Pacio, who also feels he’s still far from reaching his peak.