Filipino strawweight Jeremy Miado has big goals in his martial arts career, as he seeks to reach the sort of levels reached by boxing phenom Manny Pacquiao.

Miado takes on unbeaten Thai striker Pongsiri ‘The Smiling Assassin’ Mitsatit on 3 November at ONE: HERO’S DREAM in Yangon, Myanmar, and the 6-1 prospect says he’s ready to push his way to the top.

Brought up in a farming family, Miado looks back on his early life with fondness, but notes the moment he realised his family were suffering more than his parents would let him believe.

“I was a happy-go-lucky kid with a lot of energy up till my teenage days,” remembered the 24-year-old. “That is when I realised education was important to bring my family out of poverty.”

It’s a story we’ve heard many times from athletes from that part of the world, but each time martial arts has been the catalyst that has helped them transform their lives, and those of the people around them.

Miado discovered martial arts while studying criminology. His plan at the time was to become a police officer, but once he was bitten by the martial arts bug, there was no looking back.

“I want to compete because this is my passion,” Miado says. “That is why I chose the cage instead of going to be a policeman. My parents support me. They want me to compete because they know I enjoy it.”

He started out as a boxer, amassing a 32-2 record as an amateur, but unlike his hero Pacquiao, the opportunity to take his skills into the professional game never materialised, so he switched gears.

“I chose to switch my career to the cage, so I started training,” said Miado, who made his professional debut in January 2016. “I started my professional career there [in Bicol] for two years, and then I decided to move to Manila, as there were a lot more opportunities.”

He settled in Manila, and has based the majority of his training camp at the UGB MMA Gym in Marikina City, ahead of his second promotional bout in ONE Championship.

Now owning a 6-1 martial arts record and a combined boxing and Muay Thai record of 76-7, Miado takes on the stiffest test of his martial arts career to date against unbeaten Thai Mitsatit, who has a perfect cage record of 8-0, with seven finishes.

Victory for Miado would move him one step closer to his dream of being a Filipino martial artist with universal acclaim among his countrymen, just like his hero.

“Pacquiao is a superstar in boxing. Everybody knows him,” he said. “My plan is to do my best to have a name like his in ONE Championship.”