“He’s a really good person” - Joshua Pacio sees past Jarred Brooks’ villain persona ahead of ONE 171: Qatar trilogy

Joshua Pacio believes that beyond Jarred Brooks' villainous persona is a "really good person."

Over the last two years, Pacio and Brooks have been going toe-to-toe inside the Circle, in interviews, and on social media.

Along the way, 'The Monkey God' has established himself as the heel — or bad guy — in their already iconic feud. But don't be fooled. Brooks isn't nearly as bad as he likes to portray himself to be.

So says the undisputed ONE strawweight MMA world champion.

"Personally, we’re really good. He’s a great human being," Pacio told ONE Championship. "I saw that in our last fight. He’s also a great dad. He’s a really good person."

After splitting their first two scraps on martial arts' biggest global stage, Joshua Pacio and Brooks are set to square off for a third time on Thursday, February 20, when the promotion heads back to Lusail Sports Arena for ONE 171: Qatar.

Pacio enters the bout as the reigning ONE strawweight MMA king while Brooks will look to trade in his ONE interim strawweight MMA world title for undisputed gold in one of the most anticipated trilogy fights in ONE Championship history.

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Joshua Pacio embracing underdog role at ONE 171: Qatar

Joshua Pacio may be going into ONE 171 as the undisputed strawweight titleholder, but there are those who see 'The Passion' as the underdog going into his third outing with the ever-evolving Jarred Brooks.

Of course, none of that means much to Pacio. If anything, being seen as the underdog fuels his desire to train harder and leave Qatar with 26 pounds of gold still wrapped around his waist.

"I don’t mind. That’s my mentality in this camp. I am the underdog," Pacio said. "It fires me up during training. It gives me more motivation to defend this belt."

Will Pacio close out his trilogy with 'The Monkey God' on top, or will Jarred Brooks take back the undisputed crown and prove once and for all that he is the best strawweight in all of mixed martial arts?

ONE 171: Qatar will emanate from the Lusail Sports Arena on Thursday, February 20. Head over to watch.onefc.com to learn more about how you can watch the event live.