JEREMY “JAGUAR” MIADO wants to insert his name into world champion Joshua Pacio’s radar when he fights Japanese Senzo Ikeda in One Championship’s first tournament for 2022 dubbed “Heavy Hitter” on Friday at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
But Miado, 29, has to tackle Ikeda’s grappling and takedown expertise before thinking of a possible title fight against his compatriot Pacio (20-3 win-loss record) later this year.
“If the opportunity comes once I defeat Senzo Ikeda, why not? That’s a title shot but I’m not expecting that to happen,” said the Albay pride Miado, who has been training in Bangkok since early last year. “My focus for now is to give my fellow Filipinos a good fight against Ikeda.”
A legitimate grappler, Miado said he focus on his ground techniques or striking to counter Ikeda’s takedown attempts in the strawweight encounter.
“I will take him seriously because his techniques are awkward,” added Miado, who defeated Chinese Li Tao Miao a second-round via technical knockout last October 29 in One Championship’s NextGen also in Singapore. “I’m expecting to knock him out in the second or third round. I hope to counter him.”
Ikeda, 39, is sporting an 11-5-1 win-loss-draw record.
Robin Catalan, meanwhile, will battle Elipitua “The Magician” Siregar of Indonesia in a non-title flyweight bout.
“I’m preparing to counter his wrestling moves and try my best to knock him out,” said Catalan (10-7 record), who lost his last fight via a first-round rear-naked choke to Ryuto Sawada of Japan January last year.
Pacio, meanwhile, is building on his techniques aside from his conditioning while waiting for his next opponent—the winner between Japanese Hiroba Minowa (13-2) and American Jarred Brooks (17-2) on January 28 also in Singapore.
“I want to level up every single day to stay on the top of the food chain of the strawweight division,” said Pacio, who predicted a possible win by the Japanese over Brooks if the fight goes the distance. “I think if the fight goes out at round three, I will go for Minowa because of his great conditioning.”