ONE strawweight MMA world champion Joshua Pacio of the Philippines believes Yuya Wakamatsu’s path to championship gold mirrors his.‘The Passion’ has admittedly been awe of the Japanese star’s transformation from a raw knockout merchant to a complete mixed martial artist.Pacio will look to cut Wakamatsu’s reign short at ONE 173: Superbon vs Noiri, where he’ll challenge him for the ONE flyweight MMA world title on November 16 at Tokyo's Ariake Arena.The Lions Nation MMA representative took note of Wakamatsu’s resolve to bounce back from his setbacks and fuel him to glory.He told ONE Championship in his pre-event interview:"I see myself in him. We have similar career trajectories. He's had losses before, then he went back to the drawing board. He reviewed his weaknesses and got back up. He's always learning from his mistakes."In the past, ‘Little Piranha’ has fallen short against the best in the 135-pound division, including legends Demetrious Johnson and Adriano Moraes.But Wakamatsu never gave up and reinvented himself, knocking out Moraes in the rematch at ONE 172 last March to make his dreams come true. Pacio certainly appreciates that grind, as he also had to climb back several times en route to multiple world title reigns. View this post on Instagram Instagram PostJoshua Pacio says his signature speed will translate to flyweightA major concern for Joshua Pacio was making sure the speed and agility that defined his strawweight MMA reign would still be there in his move up a division.'The Passion' worked tirelessly with his strength and conditioning and made sure the added size wouldn't hinder his best skill.He told the ONE Championship:"The main thing, of course, is to make sure I don't lose speed. It's one of my best attributes, so I made sure it's still there when I move up a weight class," he told ONE Championship.Stay tuned to Sportskeeda and ONE Championship for the latest on this champion versus champion showdown.