ONE Championship: Pacio Retains Title With Impressive Performance Against ‘Little Rock’
ONE Championship (ONE) made its first appearance at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila in 2020 with ONE: FIRE & FURY. Once again, the absolute best in world-class martial arts talent came out to showcase their incredible skills.
In the main event, reigning ONE Strawweight World Champion Joshua “The Passion” Pacio of the Philippines survived the methodical grappling of former ONE World Champion Alex “Little Rock” Silva of Brazil to win by razor-thin split decision after five rounds.
Silva would spend the majority of the contest hunting Pacio for the takedown, at times pulling guard to bring matters to the ground where he held the advantage. Pacio, however, would exhibit stellar submission defense, and often was able to get back up to his feet. In the standup, Pacio shined, peppering Silva with pinpoint accurate combinations. In the end, Pacio did just enough to earn the decision on the scorecards.
In the co-main event of the evening, the Netherlands’ Pieter “The Archangel” Buist shocked the partisan Filipino crowd as he defeated 2-time ONE Lightweight World Champion Eduard “Landslide” Folayang after three rounds of a close battle. Buist’s length proved problematic early for Folayang, as the Filipino found difficulty in gauging his opponent’s range. Action was fierce by the second round, and Buist was starting to hit the mark. “The Archangel” connected on a thudding head kick in the final round, visibly stunning Folayang. In the end, two of three judges saw the bout in favor of Buist who took home a split decision for his efforts.
Former ONE World Title challenger Danny “The King” Kingad of the Philippines overcame a spirited effort from Chinese foe “The Hunter” Xie Wei to claim victory after three rounds. It was a close bout all throughout, with Xie putting the pressure on Kingad, who opted to lay back and counter. Although both men showed their best offense as they met each other at the center of the ONE Circle, it was Kingad who exhibited more poise and control. In the end, Kingad did just enough to capture the judges scorecards for the unanimous decision verdict.
In another thunderous performance, Team Lakay’s Lito “Thunder Kid” Adiwang of the Philippines authored yet another breathtaking performance, making quick work of opponent Pongsiri “The Smiling Assassin” Mitsatit of Thailand. After a brief gauge of distance, Adiwang abruptly closed the gap, blasting Mitsatit with a plethora of thudding power punches. An overwhelmed Mitsatit tried his best to cover up against the fence, but Adiwang would get close enough to stick a bodylock takedown. On the mat, Adiwang swiftly transitioned into a scarf-hold, where he then caught Mitsatit in a kimura to force the tap.
The Philippines’ Gina “Conviction” Iniong made a triumphant return to professional mixed martial arts competition, outstriking Asha “Knockout Queen” Roka of India across three close rounds. Although Roka stood right in front of Iniong hunting for a knockout for the majority of the bout, it was Iniong who beat her constantly to the punch. In the end, all three judges scored the bout in favor of Iniong to win by unanimous decision.
The mixed martial arts atomweight bout between Jomary “The Zamboanginian Fighter” Torres of the Philippines and Jenny “Lady GoGo” Huang of Chinese Taipei ended in a No Contest (NC) ruling after a series of accidental strikes.
