“Hard work pays off” - Joshua Pacio leaned on dedication and faith in TKO victory over Jarred Brooks in Qatar

Joshua Pacio leaned on his faith and a whole lot of hard work once again to become the undisputed ONE strawweight MMA world champion.

Returning to the Circle at ONE 171: Qatar, Pacio went toe-to-toe with longtime rival Jarred Brooks and, in the eyes of many, was seen as a sizeable underdog. However, Pacio didn't see it that way.

After surviving early adversity, Pacio bounced back in the second stanza and secured one of the best come-from-behind TKOs in ONE Championship history.

Looking back on perhaps the biggest win of his mixed martial arts career, 'The Passion' strongly believes that a higher power played a role in his success. Speaking in an interview with The MMA Superfan, Pacio said:

"But, like I said, 'He' orchestrated all of this. I just trust everything to Him. If it’s in His plan, this match will push through. And it did push through, and I actually won. So I guess hard work pays off."

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Joshua Pacio is ready to start the next chapter of his MMA career

After closing out his trilogy with 'The Monkey God,' Joshua Pacio believes there are even bigger things in store for him now that he's retaken the strawweight MMA throne.

Pacio added:

"That’s what’s important to me. But I don’t look at the past and what happened there. It happened already. So we’re here. Like I said, it’s a new season for 'The Passion' and for Lions Nation MMA. You will see a lot more in the future."

With the win, Pacio extended his active win streak to three and has now won seven of his last eight. Overall, 'The Passion' is 23-4 in MMA with 14 of his wins coming under the ONE Championship banner.

With the rivalry between Pacio and Brooks coming to a close—for now—what's next for the newly minted king of the strawweight division?