Joshua Pacio (© ONE Championship)

Lumpinee Stadium legend Dejdamrong “Kru Rong” Sor Amnuaysirichoke of Thailand will face “Wolf of the Grasslands” Hexigetu of China at “ONE: Reign of Dynasties” in Singapore. Reigning ONE Strawweight World Champion Joshua “The Passion” Pacio of the Philippines shared his thoughts about the upcoming fight.

Featuring five mixed martial arts matches and one Muay Thai title bout, “ONE: Reign of Dynasties” took place at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, Kallang, Singapore on October 9, 2020. The second bout of the evening will be an MMA contest in the strawweight division between Dejdamrong and Hexiegetu.

“This is going to be a very explosive matchup, given the two styles,” Pacio said. “They are both very aggressive and like to lead the pace. Dejdamrong is a very experienced athlete with years of competition on his resume. Of course, he has some of the best standup in the world owing to his time in Thailand’s top Muay Thai circuits.”

Training out of Team Lakay in La Trinidad, Benguet, Philippines, Pacio defeated Dejdamrong at “ONE: Warrior Kingdom” at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand on March 11, 2017. The Filipino MMA fighter won via split decision.

On the other hand, Pacio has yet to fight Hexigetu in ONE Championship. The Team Lakay product described the Chinese MMA fighter as “a very explosive and athletic fighter.”

Despite Dejdamrong already being 41 years old and in the right retirement age, Pacio feels the Thai warrior has enough left in the tank to beat Hexigetu and perhaps make his way back up the strawweight ladder. The reigning ONE Strawweight World Champion explained, “I don’t think age really matters that much as long as you still have that drive and desire to compete against the best.”

“Dejdamrong has that and even more,” Pacio continued. “I believe he wants to make another run at the title and I welcome him. I think if he wins this fight, and he turns in an impressive performance, he can easily climb up the rankings.”

Pacio fully expects Dejdamrong to emerge victorious at “ONE: Reign of Dynasties.” The former said, “What was tough about Dejdamrong was that you can immediately feel that he’s been in this game for a long time.”

“He knows everything there is to know about fighting and he’s a very technical striker,” Pacio said of Dejdamrong. “No doubt, he got all that from his time as a Lumpinee Stadium champion. He really is one of the greatest. This is going to be a fun fight but I have Dejdamrong winning this one.”