{"id":281255,"date":"2025-11-13T22:16:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T22:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/281255\/"},"modified":"2025-11-13T22:16:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T22:16:11","slug":"wakamatsu-pacio-trade-vicious-verbal-jabs-pre-one-173","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/281255\/","title":{"rendered":"Wakamatsu, Pacio Trade Vicious Verbal Jabs Pre-ONE 173"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reigning ONE Flyweight MMA World Champion Yuya Wakamatsu and strawweight titleholder Joshua Pacio have traded verbal jabs<\/a> ahead of their champion versus champion showdown at ONE 173: Superbon vs. Noiri<\/a> on Sunday, November 16, at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.<\/p>\n

The Japanese star will make his first title defense against the Filipino king, who moves up in weight seeking to become ONE Championship\u2019s newest two-division ruler<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Wakamatsu seeks to cap a perfect 2025 campaign<\/a> with a victory over the most accomplished strawweight in promotional history, while Pacio aims to follow Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao\u2019s multi-division blueprint.<\/p>\n

Japanese Champion Wakamatsu Seeks Perfect 2025 Ending on Home Soil<\/p>\n

Wakamatsu has enjoyed a career-defining year after capturing the vacant flyweight crown by knocking out the legendary Adriano Moraes at ONE 172 in March 2025. The Japanese warrior accomplished what even MMA icon Demetrious \u201cMighty Mouse\u201d Johnson couldn\u2019t achieve \u2013\u00a0stopping the most dominant flyweight champion in ONE Championship history inside a single round.<\/p>\n

The 30-year-old champion now pursues the ideal conclusion to his breakthrough season by defeating the strawweight division\u2019s most decorated titleholder in Tokyo. Wakamatsu\u2019s recent success has positioned him among the flyweight elite, though Pacio represents his most significant challenge to date.<\/p>\n

The six-time strawweight champ spent most of 2024 recovering from a torn ACL before returning to complete his trilogy with longtime rival Jarred Brooks. Pacio\u2019s decisive finish in their rubber match unified the strawweight title and established him as the division\u2019s undisputed ruler, setting the stage for his ambitious pursuit of two-division glory.<\/p>\n

Wakamatsu Predicts Violent Finish at ONE 173
\n\"Yuya<\/a>Image Courtesy of ONE Championship.<\/p>\n

The Japanese champion outlined his ideal scenario for defending his title, expressing his desire for a striking duel that ends with a resounding knockout. Wakamatsu\u2019s aggressive mentality suggests he plans to test Pacio\u2019s durability at the higher weight class.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the heat of a striking battle, I want to show my stand-up game. It\u2019s really a kill-or-be-killed feeling. I want to come out on top and catch my opponent clean. Either knock him unconscious or drop him, then finish with ground-and-pound until the referee steps in. That\u2019s the ideal finish for me,\u201d Wakamatsu said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The bold prediction demonstrates the champion\u2019s confidence in his stand-up arsenal while acknowledging the violent nature of their upcoming fight. Wakamatsu\u2019s first-round knockout of Moraes validated his KO power at the highest levels of flyweight competition.<\/p>\n

Pacio Unfazed by Hostile Tokyo Environment<\/p>\n

The Filipino challenger dismissed concerns about competing in his opponent\u2019s home country, expressing complete confidence in his ability to secure victory regardless of crowd atmosphere. Pacio\u2019s extensive championship experience has prepared him for hostile environments throughout his career.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been doing this for so long, I\u2019m not fazed by that anymore. I don\u2019t really feel at a disadvantage when fighting in my enemy\u2019s hometown. I see myself getting my hand raised by the end of the night. If the knockout won\u2019t come, it\u2019ll probably be by unanimous decision or submission,\u201d Pacio offered.<\/p>\n

The 29-year-old\u2019s multiple paths to victory demonstrate his well-rounded skill set and experience. Pacio brings a 14-4 ONE Championship record with nine finishes into this flyweight title challenge, having established himself as one of the promotion\u2019s most accomplished competitors.<\/p>\n

In the United States and Canada, you can watch ONE 173: Superbon vs. Noiri live on pay-per-view exclusively on live.onefc.com at 11 p.m. ET\/8 p.m. PT on Saturday, November 15.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Reigning ONE Flyweight MMA World Champion Yuya Wakamatsu and strawweight titleholder Joshua Pacio have traded verbal jabs ahead…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":281256,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[444],"tags":[49,48,641,638,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-281255","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mma","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-fighting","11":"tag-mma","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=281255"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281255\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/281256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=281255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=281255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=281255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}