"It's a blessing" - Joshua Pacio grateful for the opportunity to return to action after career-threatening injury

ONE strawweight MMA world champion Joshua Pacio did everything possible to return to peak fighting condition and get his doctors' approval to fight again after suffering a torn ACL earlier this year.

Speaking with The MMA Super Fan, 'The Passion' looked back on the experience:

"I’m telling you, it’s really difficult to be laid off for that long as an athlete. Of course, as an athlete, you’re only looking for a fight, but how can you fight if you are thinking about something and you can’t enjoy the process?"

He continued:

"So I just praise God that I am cleared now, and I feel that it’s a blessing that ONE gave us a fight this February."

Watch the entire interview here:

Despite the injury, the Filipino spitfire still fought then-undisputed strawweight MMA king Jarred Brooks at ONE 166: Qatar in March, which was their second encounter over the 125-pound MMA crown.

Pacio reclaimed the gold after 'The Monkey God' was disqualified by referee Herb Dean for accidentally spiking the Lions Nation MMA product on his head during a slam — an illegal maneuver in ONE's MMA ruleset.

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Joshua Pacio raring to pursue definitive end to rivalry with Jarred Brooks in February

Joshua Pacio and interim strawweight champion Jarred Brooks will have their unification bout over the 125-pound MMA crown at ONE 171: Qatar on Feb 20, 2025, inside the Lusail Sports Arena in Lusail, Qatar.

In the same interview with The MMA Super Fan, Pacio had this to say about his trilogy clash with the Mash Fight Team affiliate:

"As an athlete, I'm so happy and so grateful. This is the only thing that we've been waiting for, to be able to fight again."