Joshua Pacio Raring To Go All-In As ONE Championship Returns To Philippines

ONE Championship is set to make its return to the Philippines in December as strawweight champion Joshua Pacio and No. 1 contender Jarred Brooks finally get in the cage together.

The hometown kid in Pacio is very much looking forward to this fight happening on his home soil because Brooks has been chasing him since debuting with the promotion in October 2021.

"Finally after almost two years, ONE Championship is back here in the Philippines! I'm really excited because the last time I fought there was no audience and hopefully there will be one when we do the event here in the Philippines," Pacio said in a recent interview.

Fans of the Singapore-based combat sports outfit have not seen Pacio since his victory over Yosuke Saruta in their own trilogy fight at ONE: Revolution in September 2021.

Pacio and Brooks were originally set to fight over the strawweight title at ONE 158 on June 3, but it was bumped off the card after it was reported that there was a "scheduling conflict."

Team Lakay head coach Mark Sangiao lamented the fact that the fight was going to be rescheduled as he opted to stay with his ward instead of joining the Philippine delegation at the 2021 Southeast Asian Games.

At the time, Sangiao took note of how "The Monkey God" was constantly trying to get in the head of the champion by taking potshots at him personally and how it had no effect on Pacio.

Though they originally wanted to fight Brooks in June, the last remaining titleholder from the Philippines is hard at work to ensure that it never leaves him.

"The solid driving force is to safeguard the belt. This is the only belt that we have now and Joshua cannot afford to lose it. This is for and will stay in the Philippines," said the head coach of the La Trinidad, Benguet-based camp.

For Pacio, seeing the legions of fans in attendance at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, Philippines is not going to be as fun if he does not have his stablemates fighting on the card with him.

"It motivates me even more because I'll be defending my world title in front of my countrymen and I hope that I won't be the only fighter from the gym to fight in this card. I wish that there'd be five or even six of us from Team Lakay so that it'll be an awesome experience," he stated.

With Pacio's four-fight winning streak and title on the line against an extremely determined Brooks, fans can expect a barn-burner of a main event on December 3.