Joshua Pacio led two other Team Lakay teammates in registering memorable scenes in the third and fourth installments of the on-going Top 100 moments when he appeared twice in the series that revealed ranks 21-60.
Pacio’s knockout of Yosuke Saruta in their rematch was ranked 25th while his submission of Pongsiri Mitsatit, a first time occurrence in ONE history, came in at 49th.
The spectacular knockout happened last April 12, 2019 during the co-main event of ONE: Roots of Honor held at the Mall of Asia Arena (MOA).
A well-time round house kick in the fourth round propelled “The Passion” back to his position as top strawweight of ONE championship, a title he lost to Saruta via razor-thin split decision on January, 2019.
Meanwhile, the submission move came during of a historic performance by the Philippines in ONE: Reign of Kings also at the MOA last July 27, 2018.
Pacio was the only one among four Filipinos who finished his opponent early by making Mitsatit tap out in the first round.
Pacio brought “The Smiling Assassin” to the canvass early then took his back during the ground and pound. Instead of going for the more common rear-naked choke finish, he grabbed one of Mitsatit’s arms and twisted it around his back to give the Thai no other options but to tap.
Also Making it on the list in these installments are Eduard Folayang, Kevin Belingon, and Brandon Vera.
Folayang’s explosive win over Amir Khan to start his second reign as ONE Lightweight Champion tails Pacio at 25th.
This happened on November 23, 2018 again at the MOA during ONE: Conquest of Champions where the “Landslide” showed one of the best striking game in a mixed martial arts bout ever.
Folayang displayed an explosive fireworks show that includes various kinds of striking attacks. Several of his signature spinning back fist and kick landed cleanly, including a clockwise-counterclockwise combination. He also connected a sort of an icing on the cake in the form of a flying kick to end the fifth round.
Belingon, who appeared already thrice in the first and second installments of this series, made his fourth as his win against Bibiano Fernandes to grab possession of the ONE Bantamweight title ranked 41st.
This happened on November 9, 2018 in Singapore during the main event of ONE: Heart of the Lion where Belingon dispatched Fernandes via a close split decision victory.
The win ends the long reign of Fernandes, who is considered by ONE as the most dominant champion the promotion has ever seen. Before the fight, Fernandes was undefeated since 2010.
Finally, Vera’s winning of the ONE Heavyweight title was the highest ranked moment involving a Filipino so far at 21st. This moment happened on December 11, 2015 during One Championship 36: Spirit of Champions where he defeated Paul Cheng by knockout just 26 seconds into the fight that caused the MOA to come unglued.
By: Armando M. Bolislis
ONE Championship photo
