ONE 166: Joshua Pacio says Filipino fans in Qatar are already showing him love ahead of Jarred Brooks rematch

Former ONE strawweight MMA world champion Joshua Pacio will face the man who took his belt away late last year, Jarred Brooks, at ONE 166: Qatar. On March 1 the fated rematch will be one of five high-profile world title matches featured on ONE Championship's inaugural fight card in the Middle East.

Despite fighting hundreds of miles away from his home country of the Philippines, 'The Passion' Joshua Pacio is getting tremendous support from Filipino fans in Qatar.

He told The Peninsula Qatar:

“I am super excited. When the bout was announced a few months ago, I already felt the support from the Filipinos over there through social media. I get tagged a lot, and whenever I look up their profiles, I find out that they’re from Qatar.”

Every year, a significant part of the Philippines' GDP is courtesy of the country's brave overseas workers - particularly in the Middle East. At ONE 166, it's safe to say that a huge Filipino contingent will be screaming Pacio's name.

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Joshua Pacio believes 'every venue will have Filipinos' ahead of bout with Jarred Brooks in Qatar

Speaking to The MMA Sueprfan on YouTube, Pacio doubled down on having the support of his fellow Filipinos no matter the country he fights in. On the presence of his countrymen in his upcoming fight against Jarred Brooks in Qatar, 'The Passion' said:

"Wherever you go, there will be Filipinos. I also expect that in Qatar, we have a ton of countrymen there. And I see next year [2024] they will focus on mixed martial arts. There will be so many happy Filipinos there because, as I said before, every venue will have Filipinos who will watch."

Watch the full interview here:

ONE 166: Qatar will air live on March 1 via global pay-per-view on watch.onefc.com.