5 Things You Might Not Know about Joshua Pacio

Still just 25 years old, it already seems as though Joshua Pacio has been showcasing his skills under the One Championship banner forever.

In truth, “The Passion” hit his five-year anniversary with the Singapore-based promotion earlier this year — and what a ride it’s been so far. The Lakay La Trinidad Gym standout has compiled a 10-3 record in One while twice bouncing back from defeats in title bouts to capture the strawweight (125-pound) belt. So we already know the reigning champ is resilient. Here are five other things you might not know about the Filipino star.

One Championship “Full Blast” airs Friday in more than 150 countries on televisions, tablets, computers and mobile devices at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Traditional Martial Arts Are His Foundation

Pacio began his martial arts journey in wushu, or Chinese Kung Fu — a discipline which can include both competitions for technique and movement routines (taolu) as well as full contact sparring (sanda). Pacio won multiple tournaments in wushu — he also competed in muay Thai and kickboxing — before eventually transitioning to mixed martial arts.

He Once Struggled with Weight

Though Pacio now reigns atop One’s strawweight division, he was several weight classes heavier than that in his younger days. Some of his obesity issues were genetic, but Pacio also admittedly lacked discipline. “Back then, I was really eating a lot -- six times a day, something like that,” he said in an interview on the One website. “I wouldn’t miss breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner, and then a midnight snack.” Ultimately, the discovery of combat sports would alter Pacio’s entire lifestyle and help him shed those extra pounds.

Family Life Was Difficult at Times

Pacio was just 6 years old when his father relocated to Israel for work. It was a sacrifice designed to help provide for the family, but it occasionally took its toll on the young Benguet, Philippines, native and his mother, who raised him as a single parent for a significant period of time. “It was hard on her part because she thought that when I grew up, I would have a bad attitude because I had no father,” Pacio said. To this day, Pacio credits his mother as the inspiration behind his championship journey.

He Gives Back to His Community

One week before Pacio claimed the strawweight throne with a unanimous decision victory over Yoshitaka Naito at One Championship “Conquest of Heroes” on Sept. 22, 2018, his hometown was ravaged by a series of devastating typhoons. Not only did Pacio dedicate his title win to the people of the city, but he joined his Team Lakay stablemates in helping out with relief efforts, which including distributing food and water, cleaning projects and providing shelter to those in need.

He Has a Signature Move

At One Championship “Reign of Kings,” Pacio unveiled a maneuver that was dubbed “The Passion Lock,” when he submitted Pongsiri Mitsatit with a hold that is currently labeled as a hammerlock on the Sherdog.com database and referred to by Pacio himself as a modified kimura. No matter what you call it, the move delivers pain to the recipient. “We played around with the idea of other submissions from the back. The rear-naked choke is obvious, but there had to be some other way to finish from that position,” Pacio said. At Team Lakay, we drill many different scenarios when we train our grappling. This is one we came up with in our constant pursuit of knowledge.”