By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter

ONE Championship returns for its first show in the country in 2020 in January with strawweight champion Joshua “The Passion” Pacio of the Philippines headlining the event, dubbed ONE: Fire & Fury.

Set for Jan. 31 at the Mall of Asia Arena, 23-year-old Pacio (15-3) will make his second defense of the title he reclaimed last April against Brazilian Alex “Little Rock” Silva.

Mr. Pacio of Team Lakay is coming into the contest fresh from a second-round submission victory over compatriot Rene Catalan in November.

It was his second straight victory after opening 2019 with a loss to Japanese Yosuke Saruta in January where he lost the strawweight belt.

Out to put a stop to the reign of the Filipino champion is Mr. Silva (9-4).

A former ONE strawweight champion, Mr. Silva, 37, has been solid of late, winning back-to-back bouts after absorbing three straight losses previously.

The most recent of his victories was over Xuewen Peng of China in November where the latter was submitted by the Brazilian in the second round by way of armbar.

He has expressed his determination to get back to the top of the 125-lb division, which he took hold of from December 2017 to May 2018.

Also seeing action at Fire & Fury are Mr. Pacio’s Lakay teammates, namely, former lightweight champion Eduard “Landslide” Folayang, Danny “The King” Kingad, Lito “Thunder Kid” Adiwang and Gina “Conviction” Iniong.

Mr. Folayang (22-8) has had a 1-2 record this year and is aiming to get his 2020 bid going on a winning note when he takes on Pakistan’s Ahmed “The Wolverine” Mujtaba.

The former champion swung back to victory in his last fight in November, winning over Tsogookhuu Amarsanaa of Mongolia by technical decision after absorbing an “unintentional” head-butt in the second round.

The win effectively halted for Mr. Folayang a two-fight losing streak to mixed martial arts legends Shinya Aoki and Eddie Alvarez, in that order.

Mr. Kingad, for his part, had his six-fight ascent crushed by American MMA star Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson in the final of the ONE flyweight grand prix in October in Japan.

The Filipino fighter stood toe-to-toe with his veteran opponent but just could not get the judges’ nod in the end, losing by unanimous decision.

Mr. Adiwang, meanwhile, made it a successful debut in the main card of ONE Championship in October in Tokyo and is looking to make it two in a row when he collides with Thailand’s Pongsiri “The Smiling Assassin” Mitsalit.

A product of the ONE Warrior Series, Mr. Adiwang took down Japanese Senzo Ikeda in the first round by technical knockout to notch win number one in the promotion.

Ms. Iniong (8-4) just had one fight in ONE this year, a split decision victory over Hayatun Jihin Radzuan of Malaysia in February.

But she is coming on a high entering her fight with India’s Asha “Knockout Queen” Roka at Fire & Fury after winning a gold medal in kickboxing at this month’s 30th Southeast Asian Games held here.

Another Filipino woman fighter, Jomary “The Zamboanginian Fighter” Torres, is to take the ONE stage as well against Taiwanese Jenny “Lady GoGo” Huang.

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