“Expect the unexpected” - Joshua Pacio ready for whatever Jarred Brooks throws at him in epic trilogy at ONE 171

Joshua Pacio is prepared for anything and everything Jarred Brooks can throw at him.

After splitting their first two meetings, undisputed ONE strawweight MMA world champion Pacio will return to the Circle on Thursday, Feb. 20 for a long-awaited trilogy fight with interim strawweight titleholder Jarred Brooks at ONE 171.

On that night, ONE Championship will head back to Lusail Sports Arena in Qatar for a loaded lineup headlined by a massive ONE bantamweight kickboxing title tilt between reigning champion Jonathan Haggerty and Wei Rui. But first, fans will be treated to one of the most anticipated threequels in MMA history.

Discussing their highly anticipated clash with The MMA Superfan, Pacio revealed that his game plan going into their rubber match is fairly simple — expect the unexpected:

"Jarred Brooks is a smart fighter and he will definitely add new things to his arsenal," Pacio said. "So we will expect the unexpected, expect that he will have a few surprises up his sleeve when we meet again this February."

Check out the full interview below:

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Joshua Pacio and Jarred Brooks unify their titles in ONE's return to Qatar

After surrendering the undisputed ONE strawweight MMA world title to Brooks at ONE 164, 'The Passion' took the title back at the promotion's March 2024 debut in Qatar, though the win didn't come the way he'd hoped.

Less than 60 seconds into the rematch, Brooks inadvertently spiked Pacio on the top of his head during an early takedown attempt. That brought the bout to an immediate halt and 'The Monkey God' was disqualified, relieving him of his spot on the strawweight MMA throne.

Luckily, Pacio didn't suffer any long-term damage from the spike, but he did sustain a torn ACL during the brief scuffle. That prompted the promotion to introduce an interim strawweight title which Brooks won in August via a quick-fire submission victory over Gustavo Balart at ONE Fight Night 24.

Now, 'The Passion' is all healed up and ready to prove once and for all that he is the best strawweight fighter on the planet.

ONE 171 will emanate from the Lusail Sports Arena in Qatar on Thursday, Feb. 20. Early bird tickets are now available via ONE Championship’s official website.