Alvin S. Go

Joshua Pacio led the way for Team Lakay in One Championship’s recent Manila card.

Team Lakay bounced back from a string of defeats in a big way.

Led by the trio of Eduard Folayang, Geje Eustaquio and One strawweight champ Joshua Pacio, the La Trinidad-based fight camp went undefeated in One Championships’ Manila event. This took place at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Returning after his semifinal Grand Prix defeat from Eddie Alvarez last August, the former One lightweight champ gets back to the win column anew. He scored a technical decision win over Tsogookhuu Amarsanaa.

“The Landslide” went with his patented kicks in the early moments of the fight to keep his foe at bay. However, an unintentional clash of heads momentarily shifted the tide to the Mongolian but the referee called for a momentary half of the fight. This led to the fight to go into the scorecards after the bout already lapsed the midway mark in which all three judges scored all in favor of Folayang.

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Like the former, Geje Eustaquio also came out with a win. The promotion’s “King of Rematches” put out another former tormentor in Toni Tauru. Eustaquio earned a knockout win in the third round of their encounter with a vicious spinning back kick to the Finn’s body.

Pacio put up the night’s finishing touches to make it 3-0 for Mark Sangiao’s wards. He ended compatriot Rene Catalan’s six-bout winning run with a second-round submission to retain his title.

All wasn’t lost for “D’ Challenger” as his sibling, Robin Catalan had a strong showing early. He scored a highlight win of his own with a head kick knockout of Gustavo Balart.

In other bouts, Stamp Fairtex continued to show her versatility. The strawweight Muay Thai champ from Thailand edged out Bi Nguyen en route to a decision win. South Korean standouts Kim Jae Woong and Kim Kyu Sung each notched emphatic stoppage wins in the preliminaries.