MANILA, October 11 ------ Former world champion Joshua "The Passion" Pacio made his case for a title rematch in his latest performance. Pacio delivered an emphatic statement with a unanimous decision win over No.5 ranked Mansur Malachiev at ONE Fight Night 15: Le vs. Freymanov on Friday at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Asked if he believes his performance was enough to merit another match against reigning champion Jarred Brooks, Pacio said: "I think so." However, he maintains that he is ready to take on whoever will be put up against him. "If they give me Jarred Brooks, I'll grab it. Like what I've said, if they give me Bokang [Masunyane] or someone else in the top five, I'll still grab it," he stated.
Pacio was confident that he would get the judges' nod after delivering a series of kicks while also locking a guillotine choke that nearly forced Malachiev to tap out. "I was throwing heavy shots and I think it's the damage category [where I won]," he said. "He took me down, but he didn't damage me from my guard."
Nonetheless, Pacio remains unsatisfied with that performance despite dealing the Russian grappler his first defeat, believing it was not up to his usual standards. "Honestly, I'm not impressed with my performance right now. I need to go to the gym again and work harder. I was not relaxed, I was concentrating on throwing the power shots because I saw the damage and I was eager to throw those power shots, so it really got in my head that I had to finish him," he said. "But that's not how it was supposed to happen. I should have been more relaxed and threw my combinations more confidently."
Source: news.abs-cbn.com
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