“I think it just happened” – Joshua Pacio breaks silence over Jarred Brooks’ illegal spike that earned him strawweight gold

ONE 166: Qatar was a scary moment for Joshua Pacio and all of his supporters following the conclusion of the strawweight world title rematch.

In a moment of chaos in the opening minute of the fight, Pacio was spiked on his head by his opponent Jarred Brooks.

After first thinking that he won the fight via knockout, jumping on the cage to celebrate his victory, ‘The Monkey God’ was told that he had been disqualified for the illegal manoeuvre.

Pacio was later confirmed to be in good health which helped to put his supporters at ease after some concerns in the immediate aftermath.

The ONE strawweight MMA world champion spoke for the first time about the incident in an interview with The MMA Superfan.

Joshua Pacio said that despite their history in the past, he doesn’t hold anything against Brooks and can actually reason with his decision making in the fight:

“I don’t think this is Jarred Brooks’ fault, because everything happens inside the Circle because we’re in a fight. I have nothing against Jarred Brooks. I just think it just happened. It can also be the case that what happened all boiled down to his muscle memory with him because he’s a wrestler. It happens.”

Watch the full interview below:

It’s far from over for Joshua Pacio and Jarred Brooks

While Joshua Pacio appears to have forgiven his opponent and has been presenting the world title to his fans, Jarred Brooks is not happy with the result.

He still believes that he should be the strawweight world champion after what went down in Qatar and the two men have unfinished business.

The controversial ending to the fight isn’t enough to settle the score and there’s no doubt that once both men are healthy and ready to go, they will meet in a rematch.

North American viewers who missed any of the action from ONE 166: Qatar can watch the full event back via the free replay on Prime Video.