“It’s difficult to overcome that” - Joshua Pacio admits second-guessing himself after recovering from serious knee injury

Newly unified ONE strawweight MMA world champion and Lions Nation MMA co-founder 'The Passion' Joshua Pacio of the Philippines went into his latest fight against 'The Monkey God' Jarred Brooks at ONE 171: Qatar admittedly with a lot of self-doubt.

However, hard work and perseverance powered the Filipino past his mental hurdles, and Pacio says it was the greatest feeling ever.

Speaking to YouTube channel, The MMA Superfan, in a recent interview, Pacio talked about the gratifying feeling he got from proving himself in the Circle.

'The Passion' said:

"The feeling is satisfying. You don’t know how you would react. For me, I’m just so happy, that’s it. Everyone knows everything that I’ve gone through with the injuries. When this fight was given, I had to think really hard about it. Do I accept it? Of course, I was thinking that it’s already healed up, but was I really ready mentally considering I was coming off an injury? It’s difficult to overcome that."

ONE 171: Qatar was broadcast live from the Lusail Sports Arena in Lusail, Qatar, last Thursday, February 20. Fans in the United States and Canada can catch all the action via replay on-demand on ONE Championship's official YouTube channel or on watch.onefc.com.

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Joshua Pacio reveals fight-winning strategy against Jarred Brooks at ONE 171: Qatar

'The Passion' Joshua Pacio overcame the impossible when he sent American rival 'The Monkey God' Jarred Brooks packing in the second round of their main event showdown at ONE 171: Qatar last week.

The 29-year-old then shared his game plan with The MMA Superfan:

"We were really focused on it. I was prepared for five rounds. One of our game plans was to turn up the volume at round three, but round three wasn’t there yet."

Stay tuned to Sportskeeda MMA for all the latest news and updates surrounding Joshua Pacio's next fight.