ONE Championship titleholders Martin Nguyen and Joshua Pacio left no doubt that they deserve to have gold around their waist.
At Friday’s Roots of Honor show in Manila, Philippines, Nguyen and Pacio closed out their respective title bouts with two of the year’s most vicious knockouts.
It was Pacio (17-3) who looked to have the highlight of the night locked up when he reclaimed the 125-pound title from Yosuke Saruta (19-9-3) in a rematch from January. Saruta won the first outing by a narrow split decision and Pacio guaranteed that the scorecards wouldn’t be necessary this time around, catching Saruta with a head kick in round four that caused the Japanese fighter to awkwardly fall face down on the canvas.