"A part of my lifestyle" - Joshua Pacio vows to focus more on strength and conditioning after recovering from ACL injury

Reigning ONE strawweight MMA world champion Joshua Pacio is preparing for his trilogy match with interim titleholder Jarred Brooks for the co-main event of ONE 171: Qatar card on Feb. 20.

Pacio is coming off surgery from the ACL injury he suffered last year following his reclamation of the 26-pound golden belt and enjoys the experience of a full contact training session after recently securing the green light from his doctors.

Before he looks to take a lead against his American nemesis, the Filipino MMA star talked to The MMA Superfan in a recent interview and shared that the rehabilitation of his injured knee doesn't stop from the recuperation sessions but is likely be part of his training regimen and lifestyle.

'The Passion' explained:

"For me, as long as I keep doing what PhysioLab and Tiger City are telling me to do like strengthen my muscles. Because it doesn't end when the rehab sessions end. It will become a part of my lifestyle already - strengthening my knees as well as the surrounding muscles around it, it will become part of my lifestyle already and I will do doing it from now on."

Watch Joshua Pacio's full interview here:

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Joshua Pacio felt lucky about his injury because his ACL didn't tear fully

During the same interview, the Lions Nation MMA representative shared that his injury wasn't as bad as other fighters who have suffered the same injury because it was just a partial tear and didn't require surgery.

Joshua Pacio, 28, explained:

"My doctor gave me two options - surgery or we'll just strengthen the muscles surrounding the knee. Luckily for me, it wasn't a full tear. When I went to Physiolab, they saw that I had a partial tear, but it can be worked on."

ONE 171: Qatar airs live from the Lusail Sports Arena in Qatar on Thursday, Feb. 20. Early bird tickets are now available via ONE Championship's official website.