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ONE strawweight MMA world champion Joshua Pacio was proud of his come-from-behind victory over American rival Jarred Brooks last week. He said it was a product of a well-thought-out game plan and focus he had on fight night.
'The Passion' successfully unified the strawweight belts after he finished interim titleholder Brooks by TKO in the second round of their unification bout at ONE 171: Qatar on Feb. 20 at the Lusail Sports Arena. He also took the lead in their head-to-head matchup in ONE Championship, 2-1, with the win.
Speaking to The MMA Superfan, Pacio shared what went down in his TKO win over 'The Monkey God', particularly in the second round.
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The 29-year-old Lions Nation MMA standout said:
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“In the second round, that’s where I said I’ll keep my distance. I hit a push kick, and I was not just listening to my corner, I was listening to his also. I could hear them saying, ‘Move Jarred, move!’ So I thought about where he would move, and I was right. When he moves and I get to his space, it's either he throws a jab-straight or a kick, and he kicked, and that’s how it went.”
At ONE 171, Joshua Pacio had to buck early trouble against Brooks. He hit his stride with his striking in the second canto, which led to him taking his opponent to the ground and finishing things off with a ferocious ground and pound.
The full replay of ONE 171: Qatar is available via watch.onefc.com.
Joshua Pacio says he was ready to go five rounds against Jarred Brooks in latest fight
Joshua Pacio finished Jarred Brooks early in their title clash at ONE 171: Qatar, but said he was ready to go the full route of five rounds if it went that path.
He shared this in the same interview with The MMA Superfan, highlighting how he entered the contest armed with a game plan that had him prepared for an extended battle.
"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."
Apart from becoming the undisputed strawweight king again, the win at ONE 171 marked a successful return to action for Pacio, who he underwent knee surgery that kept him out for the most part of last year.
