ONE Championship fighter Joshua Pacio. –ONE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Instead of feeling nervous, Joshua Pacio is feeling excitement ahead of his fight against Mansur Malachiev happening on Saturday.
Pacio and Malachiev will face off in the mid-card of ONE Fight Night 15: Le vs. Freymanov at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, a match that Pacio considers a testament to his competition level.
“He’s undefeated for a reason and for a guy like me fighting in this level of competition, this is what they’re pertaining to when they say that there are levels in this game. I believe that I’ve been fighting the best of the best in the world and I really belong here in the highest level of competition,” said the Lions Nation MMA pioneer.
“Preparation-wise, everything is done. It’s about to go down in the hydration tests and weigh-ins but we’re good to go. I’m just really excited.”
Nothing screams “high stakes” more than Malachiev and Pacio’s upcoming bout as both combatants have a strong bid to compete for the ONE Strawweight Championship being held by Jarred Brooks.
Pacio lost to Brooks via unanimous decision which made yield world title but the former Team Lakay member kept his footing in the division’s top five.
Malachiev, meanwhile, is holding an unscathed 11-0 record. Should he improve to 12-0, the Russian fighting machine said he should be warranted a title bout against Brooks.
“Going to Saturday’s fight, if I win the fight, I feel like I deserve to fight the champion. He knows who I am so I think that if I win on Saturday, I deserve a shot to fight the champion,” said Malachiev.
He also played it safe when asked how he aims to win against Pacio. Instead, he reminded everyone that he’s more than capable of finishing fights early.
“I don’t like to talk about those things in advance cause we don’t know what will happen. But if you saw my previous fights, I finished all of them early. I will try to do my best and finish it early, but if not, I’m ready to fight until the end.”
Malachiev and Pacio will be a precursor to the night’s main event between Thanh Le and Ilya Freymanov for the Interim ONE Featherweight strap.