“Those are the things I can use in my professional career” - Joshua Pacio expands skillset with renewed focus on BJJ

Joshua Pacio has always been one of the most well-rounded fighters in ONE Championship, yet it won’t hurt him to expand on his already lethal skillset.

The former ONE strawweight MMA world champion found a renewed focus on the gentle art of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and Pacio plans to further refine his grappling throughout his career.

In an interview with The MMA Superfan, Pacio said he’s been training more BJJ than before and even found a way to compete in local tournaments in the Philippines.

Joshua Pacio said:

“Right now, my focus is certainly no-gi and in my MMA training because those are the things I can use in my professional career.”

Pacio solely trained mixed martial arts during his stay with the famed Team Lakay Gym, but he’s since left his old stable to join Eduard Folayang’s Lions Nation MMA.

Folayang, who was also part of Team Lakay earlier in his career, enlisted the help of BJJ coach Professor Gibran Lingbayan to hone the new stable’s submission grappling game.

One of those fighters who has taken a huge liking to the discipline is Pacio.

The 28-year-old even showed his improved BJJ game when he out-grappled Russian wrestler Mansur Malachiev for the unanimous decision win at ONE Fight Night 15.

Pacio, however, will need to develop his BJJ further when he takes on Jarred Brooks in their highly anticipated rematch for the ONE strawweight MMA world title.

The sequel of their fight from December 2022 goes down at ONE 166: Qatar on March 1 at Lusail Sports Arena.

Watch Pacio's entire interview below:

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Joshua Pacio says he has more liberties at Lions Nation MMA

The past year proved to be the most pivotal one for Joshua Pacio.

After carrying Team Lakay’s flag throughout his ONE Championship career, Pacio left the stable and joined the newly formed Lions Nation MMA.

This new environment allowed Pacio to be more vocal during his training camp, and he saw how his teammates openly helped him in coming up with ways to prepare for Brooks.

In the same interview, Pacio said:

“It’s a big factor heading into this fight, and we can really see what I want to do, and at the same time, it’s not just what I need to do.”