Former Team Lakay world champ Banario confident of a Pacio win

Former ONE Championship featherweight champion Honorio Banario of Baguio City's Team Lakay is more than confident that his young teammate Joshua Pacio will emerge victorious over ONE strawweight champion Yoshitaka Naito on Friday.

Pacio will face Naito on October 7 at Thuwunna Indoor Stadium in Yangon, Myanmar.

Joshua Pacio is ready for the biggest fight of his mixed martial arts career. JM Siasat

"Fighting for the title is very exciting. This is your chance to prove that you can be a world champion. It gives you a lot of pressure but it makes you motivated to train hard," said Banario.

"We are really happy that Joshua is inspired by us to persue his MMA career. Now he is facing Naito for the world championship. I am very positive that he will win against Naito," he added.

Pacio is scheduled to have the biggest fight of his mixed martial arts career at a young age of 20. He holds an unbeaten record of 8-0, which makes Banario feel that the young contender is ready for a title fight despite his youth.

"Age doesn’t matter. He has enough experience to fight Naito for the title. I am not worried about him," says Banario.

"I am 100 percent positive that Joshua will win the fight. He will be the second world champion that will have come from our team." —KG, GMA News