“Nothing hits harder than life” - Jarred Brooks alludes something went wrong, shifts his gears following ONE 171 loss to Joshua Pacio

It was the best possible start Jarred Brooks could've dreamt of in his world title trilogy against Joshua Pacio, but things quickly turned asunder the moment the second round began.

Brooks suffered a gut-wrenching technical knockout loss to Pacio when they battled for the undisputed ONE strawweight MMA world title in their trilogy match in the main event of ONE 171: Qatar card this Thursday at Lusail Sports Arena.

Taking to Instagram, Brooks alluded that something wrong happened during the fight, but he has yet to find out what.

Jarred Brooks posted:

"Idk what’s wrong with me but I’m going to figure it out. I truly appreciate the support, I will not give up on myself and my family in whatever I do, I’m going to take time off and get back to being a father. This is my championship belt right here. I appreciate the opportunity @onechampionship and congratulations @joshuapacio you were the hammer tonight. I need to go back to the drawing board and figure myself out. I’m disappointed in how this turned out but nothing hits harder than life."

Brooks was utterly dominant in the first round, threatening Pacio with multiple submission attempts in the first five minutes.

Pacio was in the deep end for most of the exchange, with Brooks looking to end the fight quickly with a nasty guillotine choke attempt.

Things, however, went in the opposite direction in the second when Pacio took the driver's seat.

Pacio caught Brooks's wayward kick in the opening moment and unleashed a storm of ground strikes, forcing the referee to stop the match 4:22 into the second round.

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Joshua Pacio reveals he felt something wrong happened to Jarred Brooks in Qatar showdown

Joshua Pacio and Jarred Brooks know each other so well that the Filipino superstar quickly felt something wrong happened to his archrival during ONE 171.

In his post-fight interview with commentator Mitch Chilson, Pacio revealed that he knew something bothered Brooks during their main event matchup.

"Honestly, I’m ready to go full five rounds with Jarred. But I know there was something wrong with him."

The win gave Pacio the 2-1 lead in his head-to-head series against Brooks, in a rivalry that he previously talked about would extend beyond their Qatar trilogy.