"He's known that I'm gonna be in the circle with him" - Jarred Brooks always knew Joshua Pacio was getting ready for him

Jarred Brooks became Joshua Pacio’s automatic rival the moment he arrived in ONE Championship in late 2021. Although he hasn’t yet fought the ONE strawweight world champion, Brooks knew that their fight was inevitable.

The American earned his shot at Pacio’s gold after he choked out Bokang Masunyane in the first round of their title eliminator at ONE 156: Eersel vs. Sadikovic.

Brooks finally achieved what he set out to do in ONE Championship and he feels that Pacio, too, was already gearing up for their title showdown.

In an interview with the South China Morning Post’s Tom Taylor, Brooks stated that Pacio was already preparing for him even before he faced Masunyane:

“I think that he's been training this whole time for me. So I think he's known that I'm gonna be in the circle with him fighting for the championship. So I think that he's prepared and I think that he probably called the fight. So I think that it's good that I could get a title hopefully by the end of the year.”

‘The Monkey God’ went on a tear both on the mic and in the cage the moment he arrived in ONE Championship. Jarred Brooks had no qualms about cutting his opponents down in his fired-up promos while doing the same thing inside the circle.

Brooks is a perfect 3-0 in ONE Championship after running through Lito Adiwang, Hiroba Minowa, and eventually Masunyane.

The title contender added that he’s already familiar with Pacio’s style after watching Team Lakay’s training snippets on YouTube. Brooks also fought the champion’s stablemate Adiwang in his debut fight. He said:

“You know, it's just a difference of styles. I think that Lito is more explosive while Joshua's calmer, he’s intelligent... but trust me, I'm ready for every asset that he's gonna try to bring in.”

Catch the interview below:

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Jarred Brooks already has plans for the championship belt

ONE Championship revealed its new 26.4-pound world titles back in March, and Jarred Brooks wants in on the fun.

If Brooks does beat Pacio then he’ll take home the new golden strap with him back to the United States. Even though he’s yet to get possession of the belt, Brooks has already planned out what he’ll do once he does:

“I’m gonna take that as my carry-on. I’m not gonna put it through any kind of luggage. It's gonna be an amazing feeling. I was just thinking about the other day like, me and Joshua with the belt on our shoulders and who would make it look good? That’s me for sure.”