MANILA, Philippines – For Filipino ONE Championship world titlist Joshua Pacio, the recently retired Demetrious Johnson is the “standard” in the world of mixed martial arts.
Johnson announced his retirement earlier this month at the ONE 168: Denver.
In a statement, Pacio, the current ONE strawweight MMA world title holder, threw praises at the Mighty Mouse.
“I have a tremendous amount of respect for DJ. He’s one of the fighters I’ve always looked up to, alongside Anderson Silva, who is my ultimate MMA idol,” he said.
“DJ truly stands out as one of the best and has set a high standard for every athlete in the sport,” he added.
Johnson is one of the best fighters to ever compete in an MMA ring. He had a 17-year long career, which saw him compete with the best of the best of ONE FC and the UFC.
The 28-year-old Pacio, though, said that he would have wanted to fight Johnson, especially since he plans to move to the flyweight division sometime in the future.
“It's unfortunate that I didn't get to fight him. I always knew I would eventually move up to flyweight, and DJ was on my wish list,” Pacio said.
“Now that he's retired, I missed that chance, but I'm completely okay with it,” he added.
And just like Johnson, Pacio stressed that he wants to finish like how the 38-year-old mixed martial artist did — on top.
“That’s the dream — to finish on top, and it's a goal I share. I aspire to end my career on a high note as well.”