Pacio completes ONE: ‘Reign of Kings’ fight card

BAGUIO. Joshua Pacio and ONE Championship flyweight champion Geje Eustaquio spars at the Lourdes Grotto as part of Joshua’s training for the “Reign of Kings” on July 27 at the Mall of Asia Arena. (Roderick Osis)
BAGUIO. Joshua Pacio and ONE Championship flyweight champion Geje Eustaquio spars at the Lourdes Grotto as part of Joshua’s training for the “Reign of Kings” on July 27 at the Mall of Asia Arena. (Roderick Osis)

TEAM Lakay’s Joshua Pacio is up for another tough test as he squares off with an undefeated Muay Thai specialist in the undercard of ONE Championship’s “Reign of Kings” on July 27 at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The 22-year-old Pacio takes on surging Thai superstar Pongsiri Mitsatit in the event top-billed by fellow Team Lakay Kevin Belingon who will take on two division champion Martin Nguyen for the interim ONE bantamweight world championship.

Inspired to take up martial arts ever since he was 12 years old and after an undefeated amateur career, Pacio soon made his professional debut, where he went 6-0 before making it to ONE.

Pacio is part of the country’s top mixed martial arts squad Team Lakay who trains alongside newly minted flyweight champion Geje Eustaquio, former lightweight world champion Eduard Folayang and former ONE’s inaugural featherweight champion Honorio Banario.

In 2016, he got his chance against reigning ONE strawweight world champion yoshitaka Naito, falling just short of victory.

Despite the setback, Pacio continues to chase his dream of becoming a world champion and has put together three solid victories in his last four outings.

Pacio said although he has already fought some of the promotions best strawweight fighters, Mitsatit is one of the fighters whom he looks forward facing off having a resume of nine wins and has yet to drop a fight in his career.

Mitsatit is a Chiang Mai Muay Thai Champion who hails from the North East of Thailand and was raised in humble surroundings.

After repeated encounters with childhood bullying, Mitsatit decided to pick up Muay Thai to learn how to protect himself.

Through his hard work and talent, he soon ran up an impressive 72-17 record, and even won a Muay Thai championship in the process. Mitsatit then made his professional mixed martial arts debut in 2014, and has since rapidly emerged as one of Thailand’s most exciting talents.

At 22 years of age, Mitsatit already holds a perfect professional record, including several TKO wins in ONE Championship. Now training at the prestigious Tiger Muay Thai in Phuket, Mitstatit will see action in Manila against Pacio.

Just recently, Mitsatit, a member of the Pingnakorn Rescue Chiang Mai volunteer group, helped in the rescue efforts of 12 boys of the Wild Boars soccer team and their coach who went missing for several days in June and were discovered to be stranded in a Chiang Rai cave complex.

The children, aged 11-16 years old, were exploring the Tham Luang Nang Non cave system on June 23, when torrential rain and flash floods quickly filled up the entrance and trapped them inside. (Roderick Osis)

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