The dominant run of reigning ONE strawweight MMA world champion Jarred Brooks in ONE Championship began in November 2021, when he defeated the then-No. 5 contender Lito Adiwang via second-round submission.
That result came in the main event of ONE: NextGen III, which went down inside the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Highlights of this dream debut by Brooks were posted by the promotion on its official Instagram account, the caption for which read:
“Jarred Brooks burst into ONE by steamrolling Lito Adiwang in his debut! 😱 Can the ONE Strawweight MMA World Champion defeat Joshua Pacio again and defend his crown on March 1? 👑 @the_monkeygod @mediacityqa @visitqatar”
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‘The Monkey God’ had problems on the feet as the ‘Thunder Kid’ was lighting him up with his high-level Wushu striking at the beginning of the first and second rounds. However, once Brooks got the hold of Adiwang, they were in another world.
Brooks dominated the grappling department by taking down Adiwang and smashing him with ground-and-pound strikes. Additionally, he threatened with submission maneuvers multiple times that put the Filipino stalwart in uncomfortable positions.
The 30-year-old American also displayed his solid wrestling background by picking Adiwang up and slamming him down on the canvas three times during the match.
Brooks finished the fight in the second round by quickly transitioning to an arm-triangle choke, leaving the now-Soma Fight Club representative no other option but to tap.
Jarred Brooks prepares for gigantic world title rematch with Joshua Pacio on March 1 at ONE 166
Brooks came up short in his bid to become a two-sport world champion, suffering a submission defeat at the hands of ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion Mikey Musumeci in August 2023 at ONE Fight Night 13.
Now, Brooks is back in his sport and is ready to defend his world title for the first time against the man who he took it from, Joshua Pacio.
Brooks and Pacio are set to co-headline the stacked ONE 166 card on March 1 inside the Lusail Sports Arena in Qatar. The two first crossed paths in December 2022 at ONE 164, where Brooks outlasted Pacio for a close unanimous decision victory in front of the Filipino faithful inside the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines.
The Mash Fight Team representative looks to repeat over the Lions Nation MMA representative and retain his 26-pound golden belt.
ONE 166 is available on pay-per-view at watch.onefc.com.