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It took two tries, but finally, Filipino strawweight star Joshua “The Passion” Pacio is now the ONE Strawweight World Champion. The 22-year old Team Lakay stalwart used his superior striking and much-improved grappling defense to outpoint erstwhile champion Yoshitaka “Nobita” Naito of Japan by unanimous decision in the main event of ONE: CONQUEST OF HEROES at the Jakarta Convention Center in Jakarta, Indonesia last 22 September. It was the perfect sequel to their 2016 encounter, as Pacio and Naito brought out the best in each other for an action-packed five round affair. At the end, it was Pacio who left with his hand raised and the world title on his shoulder after earning the victory on all three of the judges’ scorecards. “Yoshitaka Naito is a very patient inside the cage,” Pacio said after 25-minute bout. “Plus, he can absorb some hard shots without slowing down. He’s really hard to go against because he keeps moving forward, no matter what you throw at him.” And while...

China has a deep and rich history when it comes to martial arts. Over centuries, the Chinese have developed hundreds of styles of combat that fall under more the popular disciplines of Wushu and Kung Fu.  On a mainstream standpoint, Chinese stars like Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Jet Li have all become popular all over the world after brining their martial arts skills onto the silver screen.  These have made China one of the Asian countries synonymous to martial arts. Recently, China has also made gigantic strides in the world of mixed martial arts.  Earlier this year, the first mixed martial arts world champion was crowned, with “The Panda” Xiong Jing Nan capturing the inaugural ONE Women’s Strawweight World Championship in clinical and dismantling fashion against previously-undefeated Singaporean Tiffany Teo back in January.  Already with two successful title defenses this year, including a dominant knockout win over Brazilian champion Samara “Ma...

From fearless strikers to elite submission grapplers, Japan has provided the forever-expanding world of mixed martial arts with a long list of extraordinary athletes with the likes of Caol Uno, Hayato Sakurai, Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto, Takanori “Fireball Kid” Gomi and Kazushi Sakuraba. Knowing the relevance of Japanese combatants in the sport, ONE Championship houses the best and brightest competitors from “The Land of the Rising Sun” as they form an integral part of the roster, with exciting prizefighters such as Koji Ando and Kotetsu Boku, as well as the legendary Shinya Aoki and ONE Strawweight World Champion Yoshitaka Naito. Other Japanese members of the ONE Championship locker room are Mei Yamaguchi, Hayato Suzuki, Riku Shibuya, Tetsuya Yamada, Yuki Kondo, Kazunori Yokota, Nobutatsu Suzuki and Masakazu Imanari. In preparation for its first venture into Japan in the first quarter of 2019, ONE Championship has bolstered its promising pool of world-class talents with the a...

Since its debut back in April, ONE Super Series has become widely successful, providing fans the most exciting martial arts action from some of the world’s premier martial artists. Bannered by Muay Thai and kickboxing icons such as Giorgio Petrosyan, Nong-O Gaiyanghadao and reigning ONE Kickboxing Atomweight World Champion Kai Ting Chuang just to name a few, ONE Championship has done a masterful job of bringing in the cream of the crop from the combat sports world. As the highly-acclaimed ONE Super Series continues to grow in terms of popularity, more and more world class talent is set to come in. At ONE: BEYOND THE HORIZON on Saturday, 8 September in Shanghai, China, three more elite martial artists are set to make their promotional debut. At 25 years of age, Hakim Hamech is still relatively young, but he already has a wealth of experience in Muay Thai and kickboxing. The native of Lyon, France is a former two-time world champion in Muay Thai and possesses an impressive 4...

Reigning ONE Strawweight World Champion Yoshitaka “Nobita” Naito is one of the most successful martial artists to ever emerge from Japan. In just four short years since debuting in 2012, Naito conquered the notoriously competitive Japanese martial arts scene, capturing the Shooto Flyweight Title. Since making his ONE Championship debut in 2016, Naito has captured the ONE Strawweight World Championship on two occasions, defeating former champions Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke and Alex Silva. Naito is now set to defend his title against former opponent Joshua Pacio in an epic rematch. Former ONE World Title challenger Joshua “The Passion” Pacio of Baguio City, Philippines was inspired to take up martial arts ever since he was 12 years old. After an undefeated amateur career, Pacio soon made his professional debut, where he went 6-0 before making it to the global stage of ONE Championship. In 2016, he got his chance against reigning ONE Strawweight World Champion Yoshitaka “Nobita” N...

Regarded as one of the top professional martial arts squads in Asia, Evolve Fight Team has bolstered its deep roster of talented athletes by heralding kickboxing superstar Giorgio Petrosyan as its newest member. Evolve Fight Team, the official competition unit of the Singapore-based training facility Evolve MMA, houses the best and the brightest combat sports personalities such as Ben Askren, Angela Lee, Shinya Aoki, Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke, Roger Gracie, Michelle Nicolini, Sam-A Gaiyanghadao and Rafael dos Anjos. The aforementioned group made a blockbuster announcement on Friday, 10 August, revealing the addition of Petrosyan to its already-stacked cast. When making a comparison between two highly successful people these days, often times basketball legend Michael Jordan is used as a metaphor for someone who is the best at his or her craft. Whether it is a discussion about players on the basketball court or chefs in the kitchen, the phrase so and so is “the Michael J...

It is most likely that Thai prospect Kritsada Kongsrichai endured the most heartbreaking setback an up-and-coming mixed martial artist could suffer in his budding professional career when he competed in front of his countrymen this past March. Kongsrichai was declared the victor and received the nominal medal, including his guaranteed purse with win bonus, but less than 24 hours later, his triumph was revoked and overturned by the top brass of ONE Championship. The 26-year-old native of Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand originally earned a technical knockout victory over Robin Catalan at ONE: IRON WILL three months ago as he slammed his Filipino opponent and finished him off with follow-up punches at the 1:40 mark of the first round. Catalan was a recipient of a high-angle belly-to-back suplex that saw him crash his head first to the canvas. However, company head honcho Chatri Sityodtong issued a statement via Facebook after the event that the move was illegal, and as a result, ...