Alex Silva, Joshua Pacio (©ONE Championship)

Reigning ONE Strawweight World Champion Joshua “The Passion” Pacio, 23, 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 training out of the Team Lakay gym in La Trinidad, Benguet, 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. In the main event of the evening, Pacio will defend his ONE Strawweight World Championship title from former champion Alex “Little Rock” Silva, 37, of Brazil.

“It’s a huge privilege to face such a great competitor in Alex Silva,” Pacio said during the event. “He’s a former world champion and has excellent BJJ so this will be a huge challenge for me. I’m ready to face it.”

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

Pacio lost the belt via split decision to Yosuke “Tobizaru No. 2” Saruta, 32, of Japan at the Istora Senayan in Jakarta, Indonesia on January 19, 2019 but in their rematch on April 12, 2019 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena, the Filipino MMA fighter reclaimed the title by knocking out his Japanese rival. When the Filipino champion returned to the SM Mall of Asia Arena on November 8, 2019, he successfully defended the belt from his countryman Rene “The Challenger” Catalan, 41.

“Last year was a great year for me,” Pacio pointed out. “Despite losing my title, I was able to gain it back and also put in some great wins against tough opponents.”

“I feel very comfortable fighting here at home in the Philippines,” Pacio continued. “I’m unbeaten here and it’s because of all the support from the fans.”