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Joshua Pacio is grateful that he only suffered a partially torn ACL.
On March 1, Pacio challenged Jarred Brooks for the ONE strawweight MMA world title in a rematch at ONE 166: Qatar. Less than a minute into the fight, Brooks accidentally slammed Pacio on his head, leading to Pacio becoming the new champion by disqualification.
Pacio and Brooks were destined to fight in a trilogy bout at the end of 2024. Unfortunately, the strawweight MMA king suffered a partially torn ACL while training, leaving him sidelined for the remainder of the calendar year.
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During an interview with ONE, Pacio had this to say about how he avoided a longer layoff by not fully tearing his ACL:
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“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.”
ONE 166: Qatar was the second time Jarred Brooks and Joshua Pacio fought in ONE Championship. In December 2022, Brooks defeated Pacio by unanimous decision to become the new strawweight MMA world champion, a title he held until the previously mentioned disqualification.
Watch the fight-ending sequence of Brooks vs. Pacio 2 below:
Joshua Pacio looks to regain undisputed strawweight MMA world title
Jarred Brooks didn't wait for Joshua Pacio before returning to action. In August, 'The Monkey God' submitted Gustavo Balart in round one of their ONE Fight Night 24 matchup for the interim strawweight MMA world title.
Four months later, Brooks temporarily moved up to flyweight, where he lost a split decision to Reece McLaren.
On February 20, Brooks and Pacio are scheduled to meet for a third time in the ONE 171: Qatar co-main event. The must-see trilogy bout will determine the undisputed strawweight MMA world champion.
ONE 171 goes down inside the Lusail Sports Arena in Lusail, Qatar. Follow this link for exclusive first-access tickets to the upcoming event.
In the main event, Jonathan Haggerty will defend his ONE bantamweight kickboxing world title for the first time against dangerous Chinese striker Wei Rui.
