Jarred Brooks has no regrets dropping strawweight gold to Joshua Pacio: “He may have it”

Jarred Brooks has fully accepted his loss at the hands of his rival Joshua Pacio from his previous fight at ONE 166: Qatar, where he dropped the ONE strawweight MMA world title via a first-round disqualification in their rematch.

‘The Monkey God’ spoke about the matter during his recent interview on The MMA Superfan’s YouTube channel.

Jarred Brooks explained that although the 26-pound golden strap means the world to him, as it is a symbol to commemorate to being the best fighter, he doesn’t have any reservations about the belt undergoing a switch of hands inside the Lusail Sports Arena.

The former ONE strawweight MMA world champion said:

“At the end of the day, if Josh wants that belt, if he thinks he deserves that belt, then he may have it. But, you know, a champion is somebody that lives in and out and fighting, and that’s me. Literally, fighting is in my DNA. I’ve never thought about that belt as a title kinda thing, but just as a reminder that I want to beat the best, and that is Joshua Pacio.”

‘The Monkey God’ received the disqualification verdict from referee Herb Dean after he unintentionally slammed Pacio head-first down the canvas, which is illegal in ONE Championship.

Following the slam, he then proceeded to rain down ground-and-pound strikes before the action was stopped at the 56-second mark of the opening round.

Jarred Brooks suffered his second defeat in ONE Championship after the Pacio loss

This latest result has handed Jarred Brooks his second loss in the world’s largest martial arts organization, as ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion Mikey Musumeci gave him his maiden defeat in August 2023 at ONE Fight Night 13 when he attempted to become a two-sport world champion.

Additionally, it is the first setback for the 31-year-old American in MMA after winning his first four fights against Lito Adiwang, Hiroba Minowa, Bokang Mansunyane and Pacio himself.

North American viewers with an active Prime Video subscription can rewatch all the action from ONE 166: Qatar via the free event replay.