“I’ll welcome that friendship” - Joshua Pacio insists there’s no more bad blood between him and Jarred Brooks

A lot of unpleasantries have been shared between Joshua Pacio and Jarred Brooks throughout their intense rivalry. From verbal provocations to heated staredowns, these two elite competitors have indeed gotten into each other's throats in a bid to prove they are the best 125-pound MMA fighters on the planet.

Things got even spicier in the aftermath of their rematch at ONE 166: Qatar last year, after 'The Monkey God' got disqualified for illegally spiking Pacio on his neck.

Still, despite how things unfolded between them, 'The Passion' said he's ready to let bygones be bygones.

While he hasn't always seen eye-to-eye with Brooks, the Filipino admits it's strictly business at the end of the day. Once the dust settles, there's no animosity between him and his rival.

Joshua Pacio even hopes that he can become close friends with the interim strawweight MMA champ once they meet for the third and perhaps final time this coming Thursday.

The Lions Nation MMA revealed in an exclusive interview with ONE Championship:

"We’re all martial artists. We fight to show our skills. We’re just competitors. But outside the cage, we’re all friends. I’ll welcome that friendship."

ONE 171: Qatar will feature one of the most highly-awaited trilogies in MMA, with Pacio and Brooks duking it out in a five-round strawweight MMA world title unification bout.

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Joshua Pacio ready to prove he's the undisputed king of the strawweights

On Feb. 20, in the promotion's return to Lusail Sports Arena, Joshua Pacio will look to silence his critics in the most decisive way possible.

'The Passion' has been subject to some criticism after he reclaimed his 26 pounds of gold against Brooks last year by way of technicality.

At ONE 171, the proud Filipino warrior will look for a statement-making performance to erase all doubts.

"I don’t really listen to what people say, on whether I’m the true champion or not. But in each sport, there are rules that we follow. Without it, you know there’d be chaos," he told ONE.

The reigning strawweight MMA world champion continued:

"Unfortunately, it ended that way, it’s not the finish I wanted, not how I wanted to get the belt, but we have to follow the rules. Now it’s the time to prove it."

ONE 171: Qatar will air live via watch.onefc.com