Alex Silva, Joshua Pacio (©ONE Championship)

Training out of Evolve MMA in Singapore,  Alex “Little Rock” Silva, 37, of Brazil was one of the seven “ONE: Fire and Fury” fighters featured in the open workout at One Esplanade in Pasay City, Metro Manila, Philippines on January 28, 2020. He is set to challenge reigning ONE Strawweight World Champion Joshua “The Passion” Pacio, 23, of the Philippines.

Featuring nine mixed martial arts matches and three Muay Thai contests, ONE Championship will hold “ONE: Fire and Fury” at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, Metro Manila, Philippines on January 31, 2020. The title bout between Pacio and Silva is the main event of the evening.

“First of all, I would like to say I really appreciate the support and respect the fans have given me here in the Philippines even if I am going to face your hometown hero Joshua Pacio,” Silva said. “One thing you can expect from me is that I will put my whole heart into this match and give a good performance for all the Filipinos. It has been a long two year journey for me to get back into title contention and I’m happy to be given another shot.”

“For me, the harder the path the better because it helps me improve as a fighter,” the Brazilian Evolve MMA representative continued. “Joshua is a young and well-rounded athlete, and I have a lot of respect for him but I believe this is my time now.”

The open workout was hosted by Mitch “The Dragon” Chilson, 41, of the United States. The other fighters who participated in the event were Jomary “The Zamboanginian Fighter” Torres, 24, of the Philippines, Pacio and his Team Lakay teammates Eduard “Landslide” Folayang, 35, Danny “The King” Kingad, 24, Lito “The Thunder Kid” Adiwang, 26, and Gina “Conviction” Iniong, 30.

Both Pacio and Silva have defeated and lost to former ONE Strawweight World Champion Yoshitaka “Nobita” Naito, 35, of Japan. The Brazilian fighter became the champion when he dethrone the Japanese fighter in Bangkok, Thailand on December 9, 2017.

Silva and Naito had their rematch on May 12, 2018 in Jakarta, Indonesia. The Japanese challenger reclaimed the title but lost it to Pacio on September 22, 2018 in the same venue.