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Joshua Pacio was "really surprised" to recover from his ACL injury sooner than initially expected.
On March 1, Pacio regained the ONE strawweight MMA world title due to a disqualification win against Jarred Brooks. Before the rematch fully played out, Brooks illegally spiked Pacio on his head, ending the fight in disappointment.
Pacio didn't suffer any significant injuries after getting slammed on his head. Unfortunately, the Filipino superstar tore his ACL while preparing for a trilogy fight against Brooks, leaving him sidelined for the rest of 2024.
On Feb. 20, 2025, Pacio and Brooks will battle for the undisputed strawweight MMA throne in the ONE 171: Qatar co-main event.
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Pacio recently appeared in an interview with 'The MMA Superfan' and had this to say about recovering from his torn ACL injury:
"For me as an athlete, I was really surprised at the span of time [of the clearance and the schedule to fight]. But I wasn’t surprised that it would happen in Qatar, because we know that one of the biggest markets there is the Filipinos."
Following Joshua Pacio vs. Jarred Brooks 3, Jonathan Haggerty will defend his bantamweight kickboxing world title against Wei Rui in the ONE 171 main event. The February 2025 spectacles go down inside the Lusail Sports Arena in Qatar.
Check out Joshua Pacio's entire interview with 'The MMA Superfan' below:
Joshua Pacio looks to reclaim undisputed ONE strawweight MMA world title
Jarred Brooks refused to be inactive while Joshua Pacio recovered from his ACL injury. On Aug. 2, Brooks defeated Gustavo Balart by first-round submission to claim the ONE interim strawweight MMA world title.
Four months later, Brooks challenged himself by moving up to the flyweight division. The American superstar came up short at ONE Fight Night 26, as Reece McLaren defeated him by split decision.
At ONE 171: Qatar, Pacio has two primary motivations to defeat Brooks. Firstly, he would reclaim the undisputed strawweight MMA world title, leaving no doubt about who the division's king is. Secondly, Pacio would avenge his initial unanimous decision loss against Brooks in December 2022.
Meanwhile, Brooks plans to prove he's the superior fighter by reclaiming the world title he lost by disqualification.
