Former ONE Strawweight MMA World Champion Joshua “The Passion” Pacio tipped his hat to no. 5-ranked Mansur Malachiev following his gritty unanimous decision win over the Russian at ONE Fight Night 15: Le vs. Freymanov inside Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. 

The Lions Nation MMA standout had Malachiev in several close calls, including early in the third round when he caught the Dagestani wrestler deep in a guillotine choke. 

Malachiev gutted it out, escaped, and began controlling the Filipino from the top position in the third round.  

“I heard him struggling. But, you know, for us, Mansur and I, this is our shot for a title. So we gave it our all,” he said about their Oct. 7, meeting.  

“He was very hard to get. He’s undefeated for a reason.” 

That said, he believes Malachiev isn’t a better wrestler than ONE Strawweight MMA World Champion Jarred Brooks. 

Pacio said that the current strawweight king has better top control than the Russian and that Brooks was able to control him in a cage, compared to Malachiev, who had the freedom of the ring to assist him with his takedowns.

“Jarred Brooks is more of a pressure wrestler, and I think they’re not the same. And, this fight was in the ring. When I fought Jarred Brooks, we fought in the cage. So, it’s different,” he said.  

“And [in] the ring, it’s like you’re free, it’s wide. Even if you go ringside, he can tuck his arms together. But in the cage, you can’t tuck your arms. It’s hard because it’s a cage. It’s very different.”

With a solid win in his comeback, Pacio believes he deserves a rematch with Brooks sometime down the line. 

But if he wants to beat Brooks, he knows that he can’t perform the same way. 

“I think so,” Pacio said when asked if he feels like he deserves another shot at his old foe. 

“But honestly, I’m not impressed with my performance right now. I need to go to the gym again and work harder.”