“Improve more than my opponent” - Strawweight MMA king Joshua Pacio shares the secret behind his success in trilogies

ONE strawweight MMA world champion, Joshua Pacio, is no longer a stranger to trilogy matches. That is why he is not fretting too much ahead of his third fight against interim world champion Jarred Brooks next week.

'The Passion' takes on 'The Monkey God' once again in the co-headlining match at ONE 171: Qatar on Feb. 20 at the Lusail Sports Arena in Lusail. It will be the third meet-up between the two top strawweight fighters, following that in December 2022 and their rematch in March last year.

It will be the second trilogy title fight for Pacio, who also had a three-fight series against former strawweight king Yosuke Saruta of Japan, which he currently has the advantage at two wins to one.

The same result is what he is angling for when he battles Brooks in their third showdown in ONE Championship.

In an interview with the promotion in line with his unification bout against Brooks, Joshua Pacio shared how he approaches multiple fights against similar opponents, saying:

"It shows just how well I adjust and improve as an athlete. I don’t allow myself to get stagnant. I have to get better with each fight. Entering my second fight, I have to be better than my first. In the third, I have to be better than the first two. My mentality during trilogies is to improve more than my opponent in that stretch."

In his first showdown against Brooks in Manila, Philippines, Joshua Pacio had himself a battle, eventually losing the strawweight belt by unanimous decision. In their rematch last year in Qatar, he was able to regain the title after Brooks was disqualified in the opening round for executing an illegal slam that saw Pacio hit the canvas head-first. The DQ automatically forced the Indiana native to give up the belt to the Lions Nation MMA standout.

For more information on ONE 171, check out onefc.com.

---

Joshua Pacio assures he is fully healed heading into ONE 171

ONE 171: Qatar will also mark the first match of Joshua Pacio after undergoing knee surgery that sidelined him for much of last year. He assured that he is fully healed and is ready to mix it up come fight night.

He declared this in an interview with ONE Championship as he gave an update on his knee and his readiness for his trilogy fight against American rival Jarred Brooks.

Pacio said:

"That’s all I wanted. It took all my fears away; it took all my hesitations away. There’s no fear of aggravating it anymore. I have a peace of mind this time around that I can wrestle, grapple, strike, work on my conditioning and game without thinking about anything."

Pacio sustained the knee injury even before he took on Brooks in their rematch.