WITH a convincing victory against former world champion and grappling ace Alex Silva, Team Lakay's Joshua Pacio needs to defeat again former titleholders Yosuke Saruta and Yoshitaka Naito to establish his dominance in the division.
Coach Mark Sangiao is amenable that many doubts were cast when Pacio rolled past Saruta and Naito but believes his ward has established himself as a legitimate and dominant champion.
"Joshua is in one of the deepest divisions in ONE Championship. Strawweight is stacked with world-class fighters from top to bottom. The competition is very close. But Joshua is so good, that he can really hang with the best of them. He's at the top now, and this young man is working very hard to keep his spot," said Sangiao.
Sangiao believes Pacio's trilogies with Saruta and Naito will cement his legacy as one of the best strawweight in ONE.
"A lot of people weren't convinced with his victories over either, which is why I think rematches would work well in favor of Joshua closing the book on these adversaries. Joshua continues to get better and better by the day. I'm really amazed at his development, and he's still so young," added Sangiao.
Saruta and Naito are scheduled to face each other this September in Tokyo's "Road to ONE: 3rd Tokyo Fight Night" event organized by Abema TV in partnership with ONE. Saruta has expressed his intention of facing Pacio if he can get past Naito. His opponent should be thinking the same.
Sangiao is revered as one of the mixed martial arts pioneer in the country who established the famed Team Lakay based here in Baguio City.
Known as one of the most prolific martial arts outfits in Asia, Team Lakay is home to many great athletes and World Champions, many of whom trust Sangiao with their lives.