Igorot mixed martial artist Joshua "The Passion" Pacio delivered another stunning performance to defeat Rene Catalan via submission to retain the ONE Strawweight World Title.
In a completely sold-out Mall of Asia, Pacio successfully defended his strawweight title against fellow Filipino challenger Catalan with a second-round arm-triangle choke in the main event of ONE: Master of Fate last Friday night.
The young Team Lakay fighter seems to have become even more of a hometown crowd favorite at the Mall of Asia Arena as he ramps up the defense of his World Champion title.
Catalan tried to prove he could beat the younger Pacio when he attempted a leg submission in the first round. However, The Passion was able to escape the attempt by rolling on the canvass until Catalan lost his grip.
In the second round, Pacio decided to take the fight to the ground, where he was able to pin Catalan down to full mount. No one expected Pacio's ground game but he was able to maneuver an arm-triangle choke forcing Catalan to tap out.
It was a beautiful and spectacular way for Pacio to retain his Strawweight World title in front of thousands of Mixed Martial Arts Filipino fans.
Meanwhile, Filipino hero Eduard "The Landslide" Folayang got a unanimous decision against Amarsanaa Tsogookhu after an accidental clash of heads resulted in a technical decision.
