Pacio, Folayang hurdle scales for ONE bouts

MANILA, Philippines — The title fight between ONE Championship strawweight MMA champion Joshua Pacio and Mansur Malachiev at ONE Inner Circle 21 is all set. 

The two MMA fighters tipped the scales successfully during the weigh-ins Thursday afternoon.

Pacio, the defending strawweight titleholder, tipped the scales at exactly 125 pounds, while Malachiev was at 124.6 pounds.

Pacio defeated Malachiev via unanimous decision back in 2023, but now, the stakes are higher.

The Filipino is also coming off a technical knockout defeat against Yuya Wakamatsu last month, as he failed to wrest the flyweight MMA title from the Japanese.

But now, he will try to vent his ire on the Russian.

Since losing to Pacio, Malachiev has won three straight matches against Japan’s Yosuke Saruta, South Africa’s Bokang Masunyane and the United States’ Jarred Brooks.

Aside from Pacio, Eduard Folayang and Shozo Isojima cleared the scales for their lightweight MMA bout.

The veteran Folayang weighed in at 168.8 pounds, while Isojima cleared it at 168.4 pounds.

Folayang is coming off a submission defeat against Shinya Aoki last year. 

The 28-year-old Japanese, on the other hand, has lost two straight matches against Tye Ruotolo and Adrian Lee.

Fight fans could watch The Inner Circle 21 on Friday, July 10, 7:30 p.m. (Manila time) exclusively on live.onefc.com.

Fans could get 20% off their subscription with codes PACIO20 or FOLAYANG20.