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MMA: Pacio, Adiwang back Brazil's Silva to triumph in crucial strawweight match

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<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/news/03/18/mma.jpg"/><figcaption>Brazil&#x27;s Alex Silva in action. <em>Handout photo</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA, Philippines -- Filipino strawweights Joshua Pacio and Lito Adiwang will be keenly watching when a pair of contenders face off at ONE: Fists of Fury III on Friday night.</p><p>The previously recorded event features a showdown between former ONE strawweight champion Alex &quot;Little Rock&quot; of Brazil and former Shooto Strawweight champion Hiroba Minowa in a three-round bout.</p><p>Pacio, the reigning ONE strawweight champion, is very familiar with Silva as he successfully defended his belt against the Brazilian star in January 2020. Having seen firsthand what Silva is capable of, he is backing his former foe to take the victory.</p><p>&quot;I&#x27;ve shared the Circle with Alex Silva, so I know how good he is. He&#x27;s a great grappler, and so is Minowa. They are two of the best grapplers in the division. Honestly, it&#x27;s a hard one to predict,&quot; admitted Pacio.</p><p>&quot;But I think Alex takes this one, because he has the experience. I think he will have the edge in this fight,&quot; he added.</p><p>Adiwang, who lost a controversial split decision to Minowa in October, is also backing Silva because of his championship experience.</p><p>&quot;He&#x27;s been at the top and he knows what it takes to become a world champion,&quot; said Adiwang of the Brazilian grappler. </p><p>There&#x27;s one more reason that Adiwang feels confident in picking Silva.</p><p>&quot;He also has a great camp at Evolve and they aren&#x27;t affected too much by COVID,&quot; the Filipino star pointed out. &quot;They still have access to their facilities and quality training partners.&quot;</p><p>Their predictions notwithstanding, Pacio also feels that the Silva-Minowa bout will be a closely-contested one. &quot;It could go down the wire,&quot; he said. </p><p>&quot;I think there will be a bit of striking involved. This is mixed martial arts after all,&quot; the champion added. &quot;But at the end of the day, you go to your bread and butter, and for them that&#x27;s grappling. So I think this is going to be a high caliber grappling match.&quot;</p><p>ONE: Fists of Fury III is the third and final installment in the &quot;Fists of Fury&quot; event series. </p><p>The card is headlined by the showdown between ONE lightweight kickboxing world champion Regian Eersel and hard-hitting No. 2-ranked contender Mustapha Haida, while ONE atomweight kickboxing world champion Janet &quot;JT&quot; Todd begins her quest for a second belt by taking on the No. 4-ranked Alma Juniku in Muay Thai in the co-main event.</p><div><strong>FROM THE ARCHIVES:</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/u8rMfcMYPLc?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

<p>Filipino strawweights Joshua Pacio and Lito Adiwang will be keenly watching when a pair of contenders face off at ONE: Fists of Fury III on Friday night.</p>

Filipino strawweights Joshua Pacio and Lito Adiwang will be keenly watching when a pair of contenders face off at ONE: Fists of Fury III on Friday night.