Naito predicts submission win over Pacio

JAKARTA, Indonesia — After narrowly winning against a much younger Joshua Pacio two years ago, Yoshitaka Naito acknowledges the fact that the Filipino youngster has improved over time.

But that applies to him as well.

Losing his belt to Alex Silva and then regaining it in a matter of months, Naito has shown that he is far from a plateau, skill-wise.

“I totally understand that Joshua has better striking, but I’ve been practicing hard to avoid that and been training a lot of striking myself. Hopefully, I get to show that in the upcoming fight,” Naito, through a tranlsator, told a handful of Filipino scribes during the open workouts for ONE Championship’s “Conquest of Heroes” here on Thursday.

“I knows Joshua got a lot of experience but at the same time, I too had a lot of experience. I absorbed my first defeat of in life,” the Japanese veteran furthered. “After a loss, an athlete comes back really strong, and mentally he’s way tougher than before.”

Pacio, the youngest of the Team Lakay wards in the ONE Championship roster, has compiled four wins in his five last outings over five different assignments since his last tussle with Naito in 2016. 

Naito, for his part, only battled one opponent: Silva.

But that alone is not a cause for concern, according to the strawweight division ruler. 

While he admitted that he also slipped into a depression after losing the belt to Silva, Naito sought the help of his teammates and went out to see “good athletes to gain back motivation.”

And as far as motivation goes, his confidence stands a good measure of it.

“It’s probably going a tough fight. It’s going to be a long fight. But in the end, I’ll win again,” Naito offered.

“Via submission, for sure.”

Naito will try to replicate his rear-naked choke and keep the strap his when he takes on Pacio anew in Saturday’s showpiece at the Jakarta Convention Center.