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The path to the title is all but guaranteed for Joshua Pacio after passing a tough assignment with flying colors against No.5-ranked strawweight contender Mansur Malachiev in their pivotal strawweight match at ONE Fight Night 15 on October 6.
Pacio’s two near-finishes and overall damage were enough to secure him not only his 12th victory on the global stage of ONE, but it seems it has earned him a deserving rematch with reigning ONE strawweight world champion Jarred Brooks.
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This is what ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong shared, including the possibility that the high-stakes rematch will likely happen in the ‘Land of the Rising Sun.’
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Asked by the South China Morning Post, if when and where the championship rematch is likely to happen, Sityodtong said:
“Most likely this year, but possibly Tokyo.”
‘The Monkey God’ defeated ‘The Passsion’ in their first meeting in December 2022, where Brooks eked out a unanimous decision victory over Pacio on his home soil in Manila, Philippines. It was only Pacio’s fourth defeat in ONE Championship since his debut in 2016.
If the Lions Nation MMA representative gets the revenge victory over Brooks in their looming rematch, he will become the first three-time ONE strawweight world champion after previously winning the title in 2018 and 2019.
The 27-year-old fighter from Baguio City, Philippines, has a proven track record of being victorious in rematches, as he defeated Yoshitaka Naito in their title rematch in September 2018 at ONE: Conquest of Heroes and Yosuke Saruta in April 2019 at ONE: Roots of Honor.
On the other hand, Brooks is still undefeated in all his MMA bouts in ONE Championship after beating Lito Adiwang, Hiroba Minowa, Bokang Masunyane, and Pacio. Unfortunately, he took a loss in his previous fight with Mikey Musumeci when he challenged him for his ONE flyweight submission grappling world title in August 2023 at ONE Fight Night 13.
You can watch the replay of ONE Fight Night 13 and ONE Fight Night 15 on demand via Amazon Prime Video in North America.
