“Whether you win or lose, you always learn” – Joshua Pacio reflects on Jarred Brooks world title loss in December 2022

Joshua Pacio is confident that by the end of ONE 166 on March 1, he will have reclaimed the strawweight MMA throne.

The five-time ONE world champion is set to rematch strawweight kingpin Jarred Brooks at the Lusail Sports Arena for the promotion’s Qatar debut, ONE 166.

Pacio believes that he has made some key adjustments ahead of the rematch that will allow him to perform much better than the last time around at ONE 164.

A big aspect of their first encounter was Brooks’s relentless trash-talking and while it may not have offended him, Joshua Pacio did recently admit that maybe his preparations weren’t ideal.

He told Qabayan Radio 94.3 that not everything went to plan in his first encounter with Brooks but that’s only made him stronger as a result:

“It got to me a little bit, especially in our first match. But in all fights, whether you win or lose, you always learn. I saw not just the mistakes I made during the fight, I also saw my shortcomings before entering that match.”

Watch the full interview below:

Joshua Pacio is laser-focused coming into ONE 166

Any room for outside distractions or additional sources of pressure has been put into the rear-view mirror for Joshua Pacio ahead of ONE 166.

The former champion has become single-minded in his dedication to reclaiming the strawweight crown by earning the rematch with Brooks, which was solidified with his win over Mansur Malachiev.

Now that the opportunity is finally in front of him, ‘The Passion’ is making sure that he does everything he can to ensure the best version of himself on fight night.

Whether that will be enough to defeat ‘The Monkey God’ is another question but Pacio isn’t leaving any space for regrets this time around.

ONE 166: Qatar will air live and free via Prime Video for North American viewers with an active subscription on March 1.