“Patience is a virtue” – Jarred Brooks plans to make the most of long-awaited Joshua Pacio rematch at ONE 166 on March 1

ONE strawweight MMA world champion Jarred Brooks has played the waiting game for as long as he can, and he is glad that his first world title defense is inching near when the promotion’s debut card in Qatar gets underway on March 1.

‘The Monkey God’ puts his 26-pound gold on the line against top-ranked contender and former kingpin Joshua Pacio in the co-main event of ONE 166, which gets underway inside the Lusail Sports Arena.

Though he admits there was some frustration present, the Mash Fight Team representative knew he could rest easy knowing that he’s still the man that everyone needs to beat to gain world championship status.

Speaking to The MMA Superfan, Jarred Brooks shared:

“No, it's not hard sitting on the sidelines and training and doing all that [callouts on social media, etc]. I've been doing that my whole life. Patience is a virtue.

“Mentally, yeah, of course [it was frustrating], I want to fight every three months or every two months, it doesn't matter who it is, it could be Demetrious Johnson, give me Demetrious Johnson in two months.”

Watch the full interview here:

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Jarred Brooks confident he’s evolved ahead of Pacio rematch

While he waited for his chance to run it back against Pacio, the American superstar ventured into the submission grappling realm to face off against ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion Mikey Musumeci at ONE Fight Night 13 in August last year.

Though he came out on the wrong end of a win, that victory gave him renewed confidence in his ground game.

‘The Passion,’ on the other hand, claimed his ticket to another shot at the title he once owned with a strong showing over then-undefeated Mansur Malachiev.

Looking at the positive side, Jarred Brooks believes the long wait could work in his favor as he looks to move 2-0 against Pacio at ONE 166: Qatar, the organization's second numbered event of 2024.

In the same interview, the 31-year-old Jarred Brooks added:

“I think with my virtuous ways, it's just gonna come out and show even better at ONE 166.”

ONE 166: Qatar will be available to North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription on March 1.