Joshua Pacio wants to settle ‘unfinished business’ with Jarred Brooks: “I’m still the number one contender”

Former ONE strawweight world champion Joshua Pacio believes the chapter of his story with Jarred Brooks is far from over.

In one of the most intense five-round championship battles in ONE Championship history, ‘The Monkey God’ dethroned the long-time 125-pound kingpin in his own backyard at ONE 164 in Manila, Philippines last year.

That bitter taste of defeat still lingers in the Filipino warrior’s mouth, and he’s longing for the opportunity to right that wrong.

In a recent interview with Nissi Icasiano of The MMA Superfan, Pacio discussed Brooks’ upcoming submission grappling debut against Mikey Musumeci at ONE Fight Night 13 this Friday.

While ‘The Passion’ fully supports his rival’s bid for two-sport supremacy, he made it clear that he still is the rightful first challenger for his strawweight MMA gold.

In a previous interview, Jarred Brooks argued that Pacio should figure in another match or two against other contenders to earn himself a chance to reclaim his title.

Pacio fired back, claiming his long reign as the division’s best should warrant him the rematch:

“I think he’s just saying that he’s not thinking about a rematch with me. I’m sure as a champion he’s thinking about it since I’m still the number one contender in the division. He’s thinking about either Bokang or myself. He even told me after our match that we still have unfinished business to settle.”

Here’s the full video:

For now, Brooks sets his sights on the daunting task ahead of him, as he tries to decipher Musumeci’s seemingly unsolvable puzzle in submission grappling.

Win or lose, Brooks is expected to return to MMA and defend his throne, and Pacio expects to be his next challenger when that happens.

In the meantime, we can watch Brooks’ submission grappling debut against Musumeci at ONE Fight Night 13: Allazov vs Grigorian on August 4. The entire event will emanate from Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok and air free of charge for those with a Prime Video subscription in North America.