ONE: Revolution — Joshua Pacio Eyeing Another Trilogy Fight

One of three title fights at Friday’s Revolution card from ONE Championship saw strawweight champ Joshua Pacio return to action for the first time since January 2020.

Despite the long layoff, and fighting in the rubber match of his trilogy with Yosuke Saruta, Pacio exceeded expectations. The end came within a round, Pacio swarming the Japanese fighter for the TKO finish.

“It’s a very amazing feeling to get the win and finish,” Pacio said during his post-fight press scrum in Singapore (attended virtually by media outlets around the globe) on Friday.

Having been out so long, what comes next for “The Passion” is the obvious question. “I’m looking at going back home, take a rest, and train after two weeks. What’s next for me, I think ONE Championship will [book] the ranked #2, Yoshitaka Naito, versus Bokang [Masunyane], or Naito versus me, for a trilogy again. That would be great.”

Pacio (20-3) fell to Naito in his first title bid back in 2016. Two years later, he toppled Naito to claim the promotion’s strawweight title. What comes next, though, “depends on ONE Championship,” Pacio said Friday. “For me, my job is to stay ready, to level up every day. And when ONE Championship calls, I’ll be ready.”

In the meantime, Pacio can revel in a big win that comes on the heels of a very difficult stretch of his career. “For me, it’s very, very satisfying. There was a lot of challenges last year,” he stated. “Pandemic, lockdowns, I got injured, then earlier this year I got COVID-19. I was locked down for four to five weeks. Very hard. Then recovering from that sickness, very hard. I just thank God for everything, for his blessings. I’m here, 100% healthy.”

Watch the full ONE: Revolution post-fight media scrum with Joshua Pacio above. More coverage from the event can be found below.