"This is the only thing that we've been waiting for" - Joshua Pacio on Jarred Brooks trilogy fight at ONE 171

ONE strawweight MMA world champion Joshua Pacio is ecstatic to have received the all-clear from his doctors to fight again. His return to action will feature him in a strawweight MMA world championship unification bout against interim 125-pound MMA king Jarred Brooks at ONE 171: Qatar on Feb. 20, 2025.

The Filipino superstar poured out his emotions in a sit-down interview with The MMA Super Fan, saying:

"As an athlete, I'm so happy and so grateful. This is the only thing that we've been waiting for, to be able to fight again."

Watch the entire interview below:

'The Passion' lost the crown to Brooks in one of the best MMA bouts of 2022 at ONE 164 and fans were eager to see them run it back.

They rematched at ONE 166: Qatar this past March over 26 pounds of strawweight MMA gold, though their world title tilt ended in barely a minute.

Pacio reclaimed the throne from Brooks via disqualification after 'The Monkey God' inadvertently spiked him on his head during a takedown attempt, which is illegal under ONE's ruleset.

It was later revealed that the Lions Nation MMA product had suffered an ACL tear prior to ONE 166. Pacio then spent most of 2024 recovering from his injury.

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Lito Adiwang addresses Joshua Pacio-Jarred Brooks rivalry

ONE strawweight MMA mainstay Lito Adiwang shared his thoughts on the long-standing rivalry between Joshua Pacio and Jarred Brooks during a recent exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA.

'Thunder Kid' stated:

"I think outside the Circle, they are genuine people. They are both very humble. I know that Jarred really wants to talk trash so that people will watch his fights. Personally, I think it's 50-50 on being competitive and having legitimate beef with each other."