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At ONE 166: Qatar on March 1, ONE strawweight MMA world champion Jarred Brooks will look to defend his title against the man he took it from.
Brooks’ undefeated run in the division led him all the way to strawweight gold at ONE 164 in 2022, when he defeated Joshua Pacio to take his place at the top of the division.
After Pacio bounced back from the loss with a win over undefeated contender Mansur Malachiev, the rematch was set in stone.
The fight might not be personal for Jarred Brooks despite the trash talk he has aimed at Pacio in the past, but he is certainly out to prove a point in this rematch at ONE’s debut show in the country.
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‘The Monkey God’ told Nick Atkin that he plans on removing his former foe from contention for good this time around, saying:
“Against Joshua Pacio, I just got to put his name, like I said, put his name in the dirt, bro. Like you've gotta literally put his name in the grave. ONE Championship loves Joshua Pacio a lot, he was the champion for a really long time, which is understandable. But I'm the new champion and I'm ten times more marketable.”
Watch the full interview below:
Jarred Brooks will be in for a tougher task in Pacio rematch
Upon his arrival into the strawweight division, Jarred Brooks was able to take out the other top contenders thanks to his strong grappling game.
The same can’t be said for his title fight against Pacio, where the defending champion was able to keep the fight standing.
What would have surprised ‘The Passion’ was that Brooks was happy to let the fight play out as a striking contest and with the added threat of the takedown, Brooks was able to outwork his opponent.
Pacio will be better prepared this time around to make the most of his advantages in the fight, which many expect will play out on the feet.
ONE 166, headlined by Reiner de Ridder defending his middleweight title against two-division world champion Anatoly Malykhin in a rematch, will air live on March 1.
