Joshua Pacio Vs. Yosuke Saruta 3: Fight Preview And Prediction For Strawweight Title Clash

Yosuke Saruta has his eye on regaining the strawweight crown by defeating Joshua Pacio in their trilogy-ending fight set for this Friday, September 24.

Both men are no strangers to one another and have won one fight apiece, with both fights being for the strawweight title.

In their first fight, Saruta took advantage of the Filipino’s insistence to strike and stood toe-to-toe with him before shooting for takedowns and pushing him towards the cage.

Saruta took some damage of his own while going for takedowns, and Pacio landed some clean shots on Japanese as he was coming in.

However, it was not enough to sway the judges and Saruta took home the belt via split decision.

Deciding to keep the fight out of the judges' hands, Pacio came in headstrong in their second bout.

Pacio made sure to antagonize the Japanese repeatedly with leg kicks and stuffing his takedowns in the early rounds before a head kick landed in the fourth round to shut lights out on Saruta.

Their third fight looks to be no different from their past encounters.

Going into the 10th round of the trilogy, the Japanese challenger is expected to have his hands full once again as Pacio will most likely come forward and try to force the issue on the feet.

However, there is reason to believe that Saruta will open the fight striking with Pacio as he tries to keep the Filipino guessing as to when he will shoot for the takedowns, similar to how the opening round played out in their second fight.

Saruta, as most Japanese fighters tend to do, would want to bring the fight to the ground in order to score points and deal damage from an advantageous position.

Pacio has been able to escape Saruta’s top control many times throughout the past two encounters via explosive hip escapes and being a submission threat from the bottom.

For a striker like Pacio, he has a tendency to add a spinning maneuver into his strikes, a signature for the Team Lakay group, which leaves him open for counters and takedowns.

Saruta surely recognizes that and will try to catch Pacio in the middle of the spin, getting him off-balance for the takedown and easy points in the eyes of the judges.

No one questions both fighters’ stamina as they have plenty, and the fight will inevitably become a test of wills throughout.

There is definitely more pressure on Pacio to win convincingly as he is the only Filipino remaining with a title around his waist in ONE Championship.

Saruta will most likely win the early rounds based on his skill alone, but Pacio can move around the cage with ease and tag him with quick shots before exiting the exchange.

A greater emphasis on leg kicks and body shots will give Pacio the breathing room he needs to force Saruta into uncomfortable situations in the later rounds, and his killer instincts will kick in towards the latter portion of the fight.

Prediction: Joshua Pacio via TKO due to strikes in Round 3.

ONE: Revolution will be streaming live on Friday, September 24 at 6:30 PM Singapore Time on the official ONE Championship YouTube channel and on the ONE Super App in Asia.

Meanwhile, the American audience can watch the entire card over at B/R Live.