“I wanted to improve my jiu-jitsu” - Joshua Pacio says he was making strides with his grappling before unfortunate knee injury

While Joshua Pacio has made great leaps to become a more well-rounded fighter over the years, he admits there's still a lot of room for improvement in his ground game.

The reigning ONE strawweight MMA world champion has gone 13-4 in the world's largest martial arts organization, with his setbacks coming mostly from being out-grappled.

Pacio returned to the drawing board when he surrendered his 26 pounds of gold to rival Jarred Brooks at ONE 164 back in 2022.

Since then, 'The Passion' has worked tirelessly to refine his wrestling and jiu-jitsu, which he displayed by beating Dagestani wrestler Mansur Malachiev in 2023.

Pacio was hoping to further display his evolution in his rematch with Brooks at ONE 166 last March, before that inadvertent head spike that put an abrupt end to their second battle.

Unfortunately for the Lions Nation MMA affiliate, all the momentum he built was derailed by an ACL injury. The Filipino star told ONE Championship in a recent interview:

“When I started the year, I envisioned it to be an active year both in ONE and outside of it. Beat Brooks, defend my title, and join jiu-jitsu competitions in both gi and no-gi. That’s what I truly wanted. I wanted to improve my jiu-jitsu, but I can’t seem to do it. There are a lot of things I really missed out on because of the injury.”

Joshua Pacio admits knee injury could have been a lot worse

Joshua Pacio felt gutted after doctors confirmed he had a partially torn ACL, which put him on the mend for the remainder of 2024.

'The Passion', though, put everything he had into his rehabilitation process and was soon cleared to resume his fighting career.

In the same interview, the 28-year-old shared his relief that he didn't fully tear his ACL, which would have sidelined him a lot longer.

“My doctor gave me two options – surgery or we’ll just strengthen the muscles surrounding the knee. Luckily for me, it wasn’t a full tear. When I went to Physiolab, they saw that I had a partial tear, but it can be worked on.”

Now back to 100 percent, Joshua Pacio's unfinished business with interim strawweight champ Jarred Brooks will be settled in their world title unification bout at ONE 171: Qatar at Lusail Sports Arena on Feb. 20. Follow this link for exclusive first-access tickets to ONE 171: Qatar