“He never backs down” - Joshua Pacio applauds ‘true warrior’ Jarred Brooks for valiant effort in flyweight move vs Reece McLaren 

ONE strawweight MMA world champion Joshua Pacio says Jarred Brooks has nothing to be ashamed of after putting up a valiant effort on short notice in his flyweight MMA debut against Reece McLaren. 'The Monkey God' saw himself on the losing end of a split decision loss against his bigger Australian foe at ONE Fight Night 26 last Dec. 6.

Brooks, who has been able to impose his will in his dominant run at strawweight, notably struggled in both striking and grappling exchanges against 'Lightning.'

Still, Pacio was highly impressed by the bloodied-up Brooks' resilience, since he never gave up until the final horn.

The reigning strawweight MMA kingpin praised his rival in an exclusive interview on The MMA Superfan's YouTube channel:

"When I watched that, I was just hands down for Jarred Brooks. For me, he is a warrior. He got an offer, he took it, and he fought. So for me, he’s a true warrior, and he never backs down."

Jarred Brooks still had his moments in that three-round war with McLaren, but was clearly outclassed by the flyweight mainstay. Meanwhile, Pacio definitely kept an eye on the holes in Brooks' game that were exposed by McLaren.

'The Passion' would certainly love to exploit those shortcomings in their upcoming world title unification bout at ONE 171: Qatar.

Joshua Pacio says he discovered a pattern to Jarred Brooks' attacks

After splitting their first two meetings, the grudge match between Joshua Pacio and Jarred Brooks will go down at ONE 171 inside Lusail Sports Arena on Feb. 20.

By now, the Filipino stalwart is quite familiar with how the interim strawweight MMA world champion operates. After observing Brooks' last two fights while he recovered from ACL surgery, Pacio believes he already solved the American's puzzle.

The Lions Nation representative said in the same interview:

"Even if we watch his fight against McLaren, there are techniques that he does repeatedly. He does that even if he has a full camp in the strawweight division. We don’t just base our plans on his latest performances, we also look at his past fights."

Follow this link for exclusive first-access tickets to ONE 171: Qatar.

Watch the full interview: