Team Lakay’s Joshua Pacio began his march to the ONE strawweight world title with one of the most memorable highlight-reel knockouts in ONE Championship history.
Pacio has stopped fellow Filipino compatriot Roy Doliguez with a clean spinning back fist in the opening minute of the second round at ONE: Legends of the World in November 2017.
So, how was Pacio able to land such a crushing knockout against his compatriot on that fateful night in the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila?
The Igorot mixed martial arts star said that pulling off that type of move begins with knowing your opponent’s vulnerabilities, which you can discover by picking apart their tape while deciding on the best techniques for your match-up.
As it pertains to that sensational battle, Pacio noticed Doliguez’ stance led to the effectiveness of the technique.
“We all know that Roy Doliguez is a southpaw, left-handed,” Pacio explains. “So, he’s vulnerable to the strikes of my right hand and my right kick.”
With that in mind, Pacio went into the bout with some specific ideas for his attacks.
“In the first round, I threw some roundhouse kicks, which were part of our game plan. So, I threw a roundhouse kick to his head, and it landed,” he continued.
“I threw it all over again three times, and it landed to his head.”
While those early shots helped, Pacio also needed to make some in-bout adjustments before the impressive knockout.
After the opening stanza, he changed his game plan to include a back kick and, of course, a spinning back fist. However, it took him a few tries to connect.
“The second round, I know that he read my roundhouse kick,” the reigning strawweight king recalled.
“The first attempt, I threw it. It missed because my back fist went up higher than his head. The second one, I’m backing up and threw a roundhouse kick and a back kick, but it missed again,” he added.
Following those initial tries, Pacio reset. He kept his eyes on Doliguez and recalculated the distance needed to connect with the spinning back fist to end the fight.
The Filipino star finished his next two opponents, and then he defeated then reigning champion Yoshitaka Naito in September 2018 to win the gold and start his first reign as the ONE strawweight world champion. – ONE release
April 26, 2024
