It has been a while since ONE Strawweight World Champion Joshua “The Passion” Pacio competed in the ONE Championship Circle, but Team Lakay head coach Mark Sangiao isn’t sweating it.
Watching the 25-year-old work day in and day out at Team Lakay Central Gym in La Trinidad, Sangiao, he’s confident that “The Passion” will be prepared when called upon to defend his strap.
“Despite being out of action in the ONE Championship Circle, [Joshua] lives here in the gym. I have to make sure that Joshua doesn’t remain stagnant, so when the time comes that he’s up for a World Title defense, he’s ready,” Sangiao said.
“We’re working on the things that he needs to improve, the small details in his game that we need to tweak, but I know that he’ll be ready when the time comes.
“The nice thing about Joshua is that he’s willing to learn. When you teach him something, he’ll work on it, he’ll study it, he’ll train it, and then he’ll show it inside an official match. His training reflects in our matches, and that’s the reason why he’s still a World Champion today.”
Because of the way Pacio works in the gym, the soft-spoken mentor believes that his prized pupil is the ultimate example of the modern-day Team Lakay star, as he has proven to be effective wherever the match goes.
“Joshua can do it all in the Circle. He can knock you out, he can submit you, he’s a complete mixed martial artist now,” Sangiao said.
“You look at Joshua, you see the next generation of Team Lakay.”
That type of fire and work ethic is certainly expected from him, as he’s the only ONE World Champion remaining in the Philippines after Brandon “The Truth” Vera dropped the ONE Heavyweight World Title to Arjan ”Singh” Bhullar on Saturday, 15 May, at ONE: DANGAL.
It’s going to be hard at the top, but Sangiao is confident that the challenge will keep the fire burning in Pacio.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s pressure on his part, but we have to motivate him being the lone [ONE] World Title holder from the Philippines.”
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