FREE FULL FIGHT: Yosuke Saruta stuns Filipino star Joshua Pacio to snatch strawweight MMA throne in Jakarta

ONE Championship's strawweight MMA division is one of the very best in the world due to the wealth of talent on the roster. One fight that had fans buzzing took place in 2019 between Yosuke Saruta and Joshua Pacio at ONE: Eternal Glory in Jakarta, Indonesia.

'The Passion' had just won the strawweight MMA world championship from Yoshitaka Naito with a unanimous decision performance and was eager to prove his worth as champion by defeating 'The Ninja'.

However, the Filipino star struggled to defend against Saruta's well-timed counter hits and grappling excellence, though Pacio did have his moments of brilliance in their five-round contest, nearly submitting Saruta with a deep guillotine choke.

When it was all said and done, judges had awarded the victory to Saruta via split decision and left the Istora Senayan with Pacio's strawweight world title.

Relive their epic five-round encounter below, which ONE posted on YouTube:

Saruta would meet Pacio twice more, with the latter reclaiming his strawweight MMA world title on April 12, 2019, via knockout, and closed out their rivalry with a first-round TKO finish on September 24, 2021.

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Yosuke Saruta set for all-important bout at ONE Fight Night 24

The Wajutsu Keishukai Hearts product will compete on the undercard of ONE Fight Night 24 on August 2 inside the Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, against Keita Yamakita.

This fight is arguably the most important for Yosuke Saruta's ONE career as he is on a three-fight losing streak, with his last victory being a unanimous decision win against Yoshitaka Naito back in September 2020.

As for 'Pocket Monk', he is coming off a submission win over Jeremy Miado at ONE 166: Qatar this past March.

ONE Fight Night 24 will air live and free to Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.

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