“I was a ghost of myself” - Jarred Brooks perplexed with his performance against Joshua Pacio, vows to return to title scene

Jarred Brooks has yet to find out what went wrong specifically when he suffered one of the most heartbreaking losses in his career.

The American star fell short in his bid for the undisputed ONE strawweight MMA world title, losing to archrival Joshua Pacio via stoppage in the main event of ONE 171: Qatar on Feb. 20 at Lusail Sports Arena.

Taking to Instagram, Brooks wrote he was a ghost of himself and couldn't figure out why he suddenly lost his aggression in the second round of the match.

Jarred Brooks, nevertheless, vowed to work his way back up to the world title picture and challenge for the throne he once sat on.

"Tbh I don’t know how to explain this fight when people ask, I was a ghost of myself, even that first round when I was dominating I was not aware, and arms were gone first 30 seconds of the first. I could say this, say that, come up with excuses. But sometimes god hands you cards that you have to lay down anyways. I’m excited to start a journey back to get my title," he posted.

Brooks was utterly dominant in the first round and had Pacio under his control with his wrestling.

After securing the takedown in the fight's opening moments, Brooks threatened Pacio with multiple submission attempts only for the Filipino superstar to survive and mount a monumental comeback in the second round.

Pacio turned the tables in the second round when he caught a wayward roundhouse kick from Brooks.

After taking the mount, Pacio unloaded a storm of ground-and-pound to secure the win and the undisputed ONE strawweight MMA world title 4:22 into the second.

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Joshua Pacio reveals he was prepared for all five rounds against Jarred Brooks

Taking the quick win wasn't exactly Joshua Pacio's game plan in Qatar.

In an interview with The MMA Superfan, Pacio admitted that he prepared to go the full five rounds against Jarred Brooks and never expected to get the second-round finish against his archrival.

"We were really focused on it. I was prepared for five rounds. One of our game plans was to turn up the volume at round three, but round three wasn’t there yet."