After ONE Championship and Turner Sports reached a U.S. broadcasting deal last month, fans in the western part of the globe will finally have their regular dose of the world’s most exciting martial arts action.
Bannering ONE’s debut in U.S television is no other than ONE Strawweight World Champion Joshua The Passion Pacio (13-2), as he defends his title for the first time against Yosuke Saruta (18-8-3) of Japan in the main event of ONE: Eternal Glory in Jakarta, Indonesia on January 19.
“I take that as a motivation. Of course, I have the chance to represent ONE and Team Lakay in the U.S., so I really have to do well. It’s a privilege for me,” the 22-year-old said.
“I need to have a good showing and get that win, there are also a lot of Filipinos out there who’ll be watching, I have to put on a show for them.”
More than getting a victory, the bigger picture for Pacio is how he will showcase the virtues of Asian martial arts to the world as ONE Championship continues to grow at an unprecedented pace.
Those values have played a pivotal role in shaping Pacio both as an athlete and as a person since he started training wushu at the age of 12, and it is something that he vows to bring with him especially now that the whole world will have access to his matches.
“Being humble means keeping your feet on the ground no matter what. It is very easy for success to get to your head, but you should always respect your opponents and thank them for every experience you share with them inside the cage,” he stated.
“At the end of the day, every experience is a learning experience, and you have to be humble enough to recognize that.”
Now given a much larger platform, Pacio wants to use that to inspire the millions of people who will be watching them, to follow the way of Asian martial arts which is built on integrity, humility, honor, respect, courage, discipline, and compassion.
“In our position, as global athletes, we have a lot of influence. I want to be a compassionate athlete,” the native of La Trinidad, Benguet declared.
“I want to show the people that I care beyond the ring or the cage and discipline can lead you to success.”
