Joshua Pacio reveals error he made in Malachiev fight

Former ONE strawweight world champion Joshua Pacio is back in the winning column but he is far from satisfied with his performance following a unanimous decision nod over Mansur Malachiev at ONE Fight Night 15 last Saturday in Singapore.

Pacio, who was a 6 to 1 underdog in some odds heading into the fight, managed to hurt his foe with kicks in the opening round but did not capitalize on it. According to the Lions Nation MMA representative, it was an error on his part for not doing so.

"He is undefeated for a reason and he proved his toughness. He is really tough because he was hurt by the leg kicks in the first round, but my error was I did not follow up," Pacio admitted in an interview on Sparring Sessions.

"The game plan was to kick as early as the first round. I did that and saw he got hurt. I think it was a huge error on my part because it was an opportunity but I do not know with myself why I did not follow up."

Shortly after the fight, Pacio met up with his team and was made to realize that it could have been a short day at work for him.

"I should have been a finish as early as round one. I was told by my corner that I was in a fight. It is okay to have mercy but my job is to finish the guy," Pacio said. —JMB, GMA Integrated News