Cris Cyborg thinks Joshua Pacio has yet to reach his full potential: “He’s so young”
Cris Cyborg believes strawweight sensation Joshua Pacio has only just begun to tap into his full potential.
Pacio, a former ONE strawweight world champion, has been a mainstay in the promotion since 2016, amassing a professional record of 20-4, and already holds the distinction of being a five-time world titleholder despite being just 27 years old. In December, ‘The Passion’ experienced one of the few setbacks in his career, coming up short against Jared Brooks at ONE 164.
Suffering a decisive unanimous decision defeat, Joshua Pacio relinquished his ONE world title. A few months later, Pacio would be part of a mass exodus from Team Lakay that also included ONE Championship standouts Eduard Folayang and Kevin Belingon.
Speaking on Pacio’s potential, Bellator women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg suggested that ‘The Passion’ is yet to reach his full potential and suggested that his exit from Team Lakay will help him improve for his inevitable return.
"He's so young. He's so young. He has a lot of things for the future,” Cyborg told The MMA Superfan in a recent interview. “For sure, he's going to improve and get better.”
Despite his definitive win over Joshua Pacio, Jarred Brooks believes that their meeting at ONE 164 was only the beginning.
"This isn’t the end with Joshua Pacio. We were just talking about it too. So, I would love to give him another chance,” Brooks said at the ONE 164 post-fight press event.
While ‘The Passion’ is by no means turning down a rematch with Jarred Brooks, the Filipino standout is rushing to try and reclaim the strawweight strap.
"I’m not in a hurry to regain my crown but if they offer me the rematch, I’ll definitely going to take it 100%... But if not, I’ll just continue to level up my game,” Pacio responded when hearing of Brooks’ offer.
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