Pacio-Saruta rematch on ABS-CBN S+A

Yosuke Saruta is staking his ONE Strawweight World title belt against former champion, and Team Lakay star, Joshua “The Passion” Pacio in the upcoming ONE Championship “Roots of Honor” that will air live on ABS-CBN S+A and S+A HD on Friday starting at 8:30 p.m. from the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Not more than three months have passed since the man they call “Tobizaru” snatched the ONE Strawweight Division title from Pacio in front of a stunned Jakarta crowd. The loss started a string of defeats for the Philippines’ best mixed-martial arts team, Team Lakay, losing their belts left and right. But the amiable Pacio (13-3, 7 submissions) promised during the presscon held at the City of Dreams last Wednesday (April 9), he will stand atop the mountain once more.

“I lacked focus, hesitated, and backed up a lot when I last faced Saruta. I will stick to our gameplan this time around and I will be in the winner’s circle this Friday,” he boldly stated.

For his part, Saruta (19-8, 5 KOs) promises to finish the fight compared to what happened in Jakarta. “It was a tough fight against Pacio. We got to review the first fight, and learn some techniques. This coming Friday, everyone will see the strength of a ninja here in the Philippines,” he shared in Japanese.

Meanwhile, co-headlining the event with the Pacio-Saruta rematch is the ONE Featherweight Division title match between division lynchpin Martin “The Situ-Asian” Nguyen’s long-awaited return to the cage and former world champion Narantungalag Jadambaa. Age doesn’t matter in this title fight according to Jadambaa (14-5), who at 43 is pumped up for a title shot against one of the most dangerous knockout artists in the business in the 30-year-old Australian champion (11-3, 7 KOs).

Aside from Pacio, other Filipino warriors teeing off for the event are brothers Eric and Edward Kelly. The older Kelly, dubbed as “The Natural,” out of Pinoy Top Team will be facing Korean Kwon Won Il, while Edward, who fights out of Team Lakay, will be colliding with Sung Jong Lee in the “Roots of Honor” undercard.

Don’t miss the big rematch of ONE Strawweight Division world champion Yosuke “Tobizaru” Saruta against Pinoy pride and Team Lakay stalwart, Joshua “The Passion” Pacio in ONE Championship’s “Roots of Honor” airing LIVE on S+A and S+A HD from the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City starting at 8:30 p.m. this Friday.

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