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Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Pacio 'excited' to call shot at corner in Folayang's rivalry match versus Aoki

Pacio 'excited' to call shot at corner in Folayang's rivalry match versus Aoki

Published Mar 20, 2025 07:40 am

At A Glance

  • Reigning ONE Strawweight MMA World Champion Joshua "The Passion" Pacio will call the tactical shots from the corner of former two-time ONE Lightweight MMA World Champion Eduard "Landslide" Folayang for his final encounter with an old foe. 

Reigning ONE Strawweight MMA World Champion Joshua "The Passion" Pacio will call the tactical shots from the corner of former two-time ONE Lightweight MMA World Champion Eduard "Landslide" Folayang for his final encounter with an old foe. 

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(ONE Championship)

Folayang meets his rival-turned-pal Shinya Aoki at ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang this Sunday, March 23, at Saitama Super Arena in Japan, where he'll have the wisdom of the Philippines' best MMA fighter in his corner. 

Folayang was in Pacio's corner when he stopped Jarred Brooks in his own rivalry at ONE 171: Qatar last month. The strawweight king is hopeful to get the same result and allow his training partner to even the score with the Japanese grappling wizard who leads their series 2-1. 

"It's definitely a different experience this time," Pacio said as they arrived in Japan on Wednesday night before getting down to work immediately on Thursday morning for some training. 

"Kuya Eduard has always been the one cornering me in all of those competitions, and now the roles are reversed and I'm excited that I will be the one to corner him in this rivalry match against Aoki." 

Having been there for him since he started his MMA career, Pacio sees this as the ultimate honor. 

"For me it's a privilege to be in his corner in this fight. It's a privilege to be in the corner of the face of Philippine MMA," he said. 

Pacio has been with Folayang almost daily for most of the year — including their time in Qatar where the Filipino MMA icon squeezed in training reps to maintain peak fitness before fully focusing on the Aoki fight. 

"I strongly believe he's ready for this," Pacio said. 

"I've seen him prepared, I've seen him work hard. He's ready 100 percent physically, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally, and through God's grace we will get the win." 

Related Tags

Eduard Folayang Joshua Pacio ONE Championship Shinya Aoki
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