MANILA, Philippines — Joshua Pacio's ONE strawweight title defense will be the main event of ONE Championship's first show in the Philippines since the beginning of the pandemic.
As Filipino fans may have noticed, Philippine fighters have been scarce in the Singapore promotion's recent events. This has led to assumptions that Filipino fights are being stacked for the Manila show.
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Set to face American Jared Brooks in his fourth consecutive bout to keep his belt, Pacio wants to be able to share the card with his stablemates from Baguio-based gym Team Lakay.
"Kumbaga dalawa yung card na yun [sa Manila], Amazon Prime and yung isa, so ilagay niyo na yung lahat ng Team Lakay sa isang card like Team Lakay vs The World," Pacio said of ONE 164: Pacio vs Brooks.
Already, at least one Team Lakay member will be competing alongside Pacio -- as it was announced that the winner of reality show ONE Warrior Series: Philippines will make his debut in the December show.
The winner, who will get a $100,000 contract with ONE Championship, will compete under the banner of Team Lakay, who also oversaw their development in the competition.
Still, Pacio dropped a couple of names he would want to see on the card.
"Gusto ko sila Kuya Eduard [Folayang], Kuya Kevin [Belingon], sila Stephen Loman, Jeremy Pacatiw, Jhanlo [Sangiao], lahat na," exclaimed Pacio.
Pacio and Brooks are set to lock horns in the Singapore promotion's first live event in Manila since January 2020. ONE Championship is set to open the show to a live audience at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Team Lakay has been one of the most successful gyms in ONE Championship. At the end of 2018, Team Lakay had simultaneously held four world championships.
But currently, Pacio remains as the sole reigning champion of both Team Lakay and the Philippines.