Pacio Defends Strawweight MMA Belt Against Malachiev In Rematch, Folayang Returns At The Inner Circle 21
ONE Championship has confirmed a Strawweight MMA World Title rematch and the return of a Filipino MMA icon for July.
Reigning ONE Strawweight MMA World Champion Joshua Pacio will defend his crown against Russian challenger and old rival Mansur Malachiev at The Inner Circle 21 on Friday, July 10. This main event clash goes down live from Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, and fans can stream it at live.onefc.com.
Also announced, Filipino legend and former ONE Lightweight MMA World Champion Eduard Folayang returns to action against Japan's Shozo Isojima in a lightweight MMA contest on the same card.
The two headlining fighters know each other well. Their first meeting in 2023 produced one of the most competitive strawweight bouts in recent memory, and the rematch carries World Title gold and unfinished business on both sides.
Joshua Pacio Returns to Defend His Undisputed Strawweight Crown
Pacio has assembled one of the most decorated strawweight MMA resumes in ONE Championship history.
The 30-year-old from Lions Nation MMA is a six-time ONE Strawweight MMA World Champion with a 23-5 career record, including 14 wins in ONE, and he enters the tilt on a three-fight winning streak.
Pacio's history with Malachiev began in 2023. He met the then-undefeated Russian shortly after losing his title in December 2022. The Filipino delivered a career-defining performance to hand Malachiev his first, and only, professional defeat.
The Baguio City native reclaimed his title in 2024, unified the belt in 2025, and now enters the rematch at The Inner Circle 21 as the promotion’s most dominant strawweight in its history.
Malachiev Transformed Following Close Defeat To Pacio
Malachiev, who steps into The Inner Circle 21, is a significantly different proposition from the fighter Pacio defeated in 2023.
The 34-year-old Dagestani from Universal Fighters suffered the first loss of his professional career that night, then immediately set about rebuilding his contendership with a ruthless efficiency that has led him to a World Title shot.
Since the Pacio defeat, Malachiev has reeled off three consecutive victories over top-tier opposition, including former ONE World Champions Yosuke Saruta and Jarred Brooks, two of the most credible names the strawweight division has produced.
His 14-1 career record and 4-1 ONE mark, with two finishes in the promotion, underline a fighter capable of ending bouts at any time. Pacio will have studied his opponent's improvements over the past two years, but Malachiev has studied the Filipino just as carefully. The rematch gives the Russian the chance to prove that the first result was an anomaly rather than a true reflection of where the two fighters stand.
Eduard Folayang Returns Against Shozo Isojima at The Inner Circle 21
Pacio’s mentor, Folayang, will return to action, and that adds a significant subplot to The Inner Circle 21.
The 42-year-old Filipino icon who runs Lions Nation MMA is a former ONE Lightweight MMA World Champion with 23 MMA victories and 13 ONE wins. His inspirational career has made him one of the most beloved figures in the organization's history.
Isojima, 28, had a debut to remember last year, as he dominated and finished Nicolas Vigna in the second round of their lightweight clash. Back-to-back losses have complicated his trajectory, so a victory over a former World Champion of Folayang's standing would represent a massive boost for the Japanese athlete’s place in the division.
Watch The Inner Circle 21 live on Friday, July 10, exclusively at live.onefc.com.
