Three months after losing his title, Joshua “The Passion” Pacio looks to exact revenge over his conqueror Yosuke “Tobizaru” Saruta of Japan in the co-main event of ONE: Roots of Glory on Friday, April 12 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
“That fight showed me a lot of things that I needed to work on in my game. It was a great experience for me, as it showed me the things that I need to work on heading into the rematch,” said Pacio.
“I’m happy for the opportunity and I will do everything to get the belt back to the Philippines.”
After Pacio’s initial opponent, Hayato Suzuki, was forced to withdraw from the bout due to injury, it was Saruta who was tapped to take his place in the main event opposite the Filipino.
Using his world-class striking and grappling skills, Saruta put together a comprehensive performance, upsetting Pacio to capture the belt. However, the extremely close result was enough to warrant an immediate rematch between the two.
Now, the two have the chance to settle the score once and for all to determine who is the true king at strawweight.
“We will be more decisive and I will try hard to make sure to settle this clearly.”
In the main event, reigning ONE Featherweight World Champion Martin Nguyen returns to action against former World Champion Narantungalag Jadambaa.
The 29-year-old Nguyen has become one of the most prolific Asian martial arts talents over the past few years, winning seven of his last nine contests.
In 2015, he embarked on an unprecedented six-bout winning streak, along the way capturing both the ONE Featherweight and ONE Lightweight World Titles in the process to become a simultaneous two-division World Champion.
After falling to injury, however, Nguyen was prompted to vacate the lightweight strap last November. Now, with Nguyen fully recovered, the Vietnamese-Australian stalwart is slated to make his much-awaited return to action against the dangerous veteran Jadambaa.
Jadambaa burst onto the ONE Championship stage in May of 2014, defeating the Philippines’ Honorio “The Rock” Banario. He has since been a winner of six of his last eight contests.
In 2014, he captured the ONE Featherweight World Title with a victory over Koji Oishi. Over the years, Jadambaa has defeated some of ONE Championship’s biggest names, with notable victories coming over Kotetsu Boku, Eric and Edward Kelly, and Kazuki Tokudome.
