Jarred Brooks out to finish Joshua Pacio in rematch

ONE 166 Published February 29, 2024 7:38pm Reigning ONE strawweight world champion Jarred Brooks would like to put an exclamation mark to his rivalry with Joshua Pacio once and for all when they fight again at ONE 166 this Friday, March 1 at Lusail Sports Arena in Qatar. Brooks and Pacio first met inside the […]

Jarred Brooks out to finish Joshua Pacio in rematch

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ONE 166


Reigning ONE strawweight world champion Jarred Brooks would like to put an exclamation mark to his rivalry with Joshua Pacio once and for all when they fight again at ONE 166 this Friday, March 1 at Lusail Sports Arena in Qatar.

Brooks and Pacio first met inside the cage in December 2022 where the American triumphed by way of unanimous decision to claim the Filipino’s then-world title. This time around, Brooks says he is going for the kill.

“I will shut you up every day, all day. I have nothing but respect for you,” said Brooks, who holds a mixed martial arts record of 20-2.

“After the [first] fight, I felt really bad when you were peeing blood and you had all those lip scars, you were pretty messed up. But now it’s time to kill you. I’ve gotta go out and kill you, brother, and I am 100 percent going to finish you this time.”

Pacio has made notable changes in his corner since that fateful night.

After co-founding Lions Nation MMA with former world champions Eduard Folayang, Honorio Banario, and Kevin Belingon last year, Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Gibran Langbayan and he now has a nutritionist among many others.

Despite the major changes in his camp, Brooks is convinced that Pacio has still not done enough.

“I feel like they aren’t working the same. They’re half-assing their workouts and they’re doing things like, ‘Oh, we’re gonna hop over each other and we’re gonna do army crawls underneath each other.’,” Brooks said.

“That’s the stuff I did in third grade. It’s not a great workout for me. Mine are balls to the walls, grimy, nasty in your face, kind of workouts.”

—JKC, GMA Integrated News