Joshua Pacio

Joshua Pacio profile

Joshua Pacio is the three-time and current ONE strawweight world champion. Born in La Trinidad, Benguet on 10 January 1996 and of Igorot descent, he is 15-5 in the promotion and 24-5 as a professional.

A father working overseas

His father left to work abroad when Pacio was six, as many Filipino parents do. He found martial arts at twelve, won wushu tournaments at home, and turned professional in MMA at 6-0 before signing with ONE.

His first world title shot, against Yoshitaka Naito in 2016, ended in defeat. He beat Naito for the belt in September 2018, lost it to Yosuke Saruta in his first defence, and took it straight back in the rematch.

Three fights with Jarred Brooks

He lost the title to American Jarred Brooks over five rounds at ONE 164, regained it at ONE 166 in Qatar when Brooks was disqualified for an illegal slam, and settled the trilogy at ONE 171 with a second-round TKO that unified the belt and earned a Performance of the Night bonus.

Moving up, and the wall in Tokyo

On 16 November 2025 at ONE 173 in Tokyo he challenged Yuya Wakamatsu for the flyweight title at 135 lb and was stopped by knees 54 seconds into round two.

That bout was for a different division's belt, so his strawweight title was never at stake — it was the price of moving up against a bigger man.

Back down, and back to work

On 10 July 2026 at The Inner Circle 21 in Bangkok he returned to strawweight and defended against Mansur Malachiev, whom he had beaten on points in 2023. This time he finished it with a rear-naked choke at 4:23 of round one.

He has finished ten of his fifteen ONE wins — five by knockout or TKO, five by submission and one by disqualification — a balance rarely seen in the smaller divisions.

Record

Scope: ONE Championship · last verified 5 October 2026