Team Lakay fighters have been starring for ONE Championship since the promotion’s inaugural event a decade ago. Joshua Pacio, Geje Eustaquio, Kevin Belingon, Honorio Banario and Eduard Folayang have all won titles with the promotion.
Pacio is the only Team Lakay champion left standing. The 25 year old holds the strawweight title but he thinks it is only a matter of time until one of his teammates wins another strap,
“I may be the lone world champion now but I think that won’t last long because I’m confident that some of my teammates will be champions in the future,” he said.
Future champions
Pacio lists three of his training partners currently on the ONE Championship roster who he feels have the potential to go on and become champions,
“You have Danny Kingad and young ones like Stephen Loman and Jhanlo Sangiao, who I believe will be world champions in the future,” he said.
Kingad is currently ranked #1 in the flyweight division. Loman and Sangiao both compete at bantamweight but neither man has made his ONE Championship debut yet.
Former champions
While Folayang, Belingon and Eustaquio have long since relinquished their titles Pacio says he looks up to all three former champions,
“When I train in the gym, I’m still training with world champions like Eduard, Kevin, and Geje. They’re still champions in my eyes.”
As for Pacio he has not tasted action since a split decision win over Alex Silva at ONE: ‘Fire & Fury’ in 2020. Bokang Masunyane and Hiroba Minowa are the only top ranked strawweights he hasn’t already beaten but Covid-19 has caused the promotion’s fight cards to come to a temporary halt.
Being Team Lakay’s only current ONE Championship title holder potentially brings additional pressure. But Pacio says that training every day with the camp’s former champions makes him extremely confident he can extend his reign.
“We’re used to being pressured, but I’m confident because I train with world-class athletes and world champions.”
