Jarred Brooks out to stamp he’s "the best strawweight in the world" by beating Joshua Pacio anew in ONE 166 rematch

American Jarred Brooks seeks to assert his standing as the best strawweight MMA fighter in the world when he returns to ONE Championship action next week.

‘The Monkey God’ will defend the ONE strawweight MMA world title on March 1 at ONE 166: Qatar against former divisional king Joshua Pacio. It is a rematch of their December 2022 clash, where Brooks seized the MMA gold from ‘The Passion’ by way of unanimous decision.

In an interview with The MMA Superfan, the 31-year-old champion shared that he is going to beat Pacio again and underscore even more that he is the best in the game in the strawweight lane.

The Indiana native said:

“We're here now and I'm super happy that I pushed myself beyond my limit over the past six months and all that, and I’m gonna go out and show that like I said, I’m the best strawweight in the world right now.”

Watch the interview below:

Apart from retaining his world title, Jarred Brooks is also gunning for a bounce-back win at ONE 166 after his failed bid to become a two-sport king when he lost by rear-naked choke to ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion Mikey Musumeci in August.

Pacio, 28, meanwhile, is seeking to make it back-to-back wins in follow-up to his decision victory over Russian wrestler Mansur Malachiev back in October.

ONE 166: Qatar will take place at the Lusail Sports Arena and air live free of charge for existing Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.

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Jarred Brooks likes his chances against Joshua Pacio in rematch

ONE strawweight MMA world champion Jarred Brooks likes his chances against Filipino rival Joshua Pacio in their scheduled rematch at ONE 166: Qatar on March 1. He said that entering the contest he has a better understanding of his opponent’s game, which he looks to capitalize on.

The American champion goes for another victory over Pacio, in follow-up to his unanimous decision win in their first encounter in December 2022, where he also seized the world title from ‘The Passion'.

In the same interview, ‘The Monkey God’ conveyed that he has grown to understand the game of his rival, which should help him in their rematch.

Jarred Brooks said:

“Now it's like I know how to beat you. I already know what you're gonna be trying to focus on, on how to beat me right? So I've been working on that for a year and months, you don't know what's going to be coming out of the woodwork.”

ONE 166 is the promotion’s first-ever live on-ground event in Qatar.