WATCH: Joshua Pacio goes to war with former world champion Alex Silva in close fight

Ahead of his anticipated return to the circle, ONE Championship has invited fans to relive one of Joshua Pacio’s greatest fights.

At ONE: Fire and Fury in January 2020, Pacio defended his world strawweight championship for the second time in a quick return after fighting in November the year before.

The Team Lakay fighter put his world title on the line in Manila against submission specialist and former titleholder Alex Silva.

The fight was incredibly close, with Pacio retaining the belt via a split decision. The champion's well-rounded game proved to be too much for his opponent as he stuffed takedowns and avoided his submission threats.

Watch the full fight on ONE Championship’s YouTube channel below:

The reigning champion will need to display a lot of the same skills that he showed in his fight with Silva if he is to defend his ONE strawweight world championship for a fourth consecutive time.

Coming up against talented American grappler Jarred Brooks, this fight is different from all of Pacio’s previous appearances inside the circle.

Brooks has shown the champion no respect in the build-up, but on December 2 at ONE 164, the time for talking will be over. After having to endure a six-month delay from their originally scheduled bout, Pacio will finally get to let his skills do the talking.

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Jarred Brooks feels he’s already beaten Joshua Pacio

At ONE 164, Jarred Brooks and Joshua Pacio will finally collide with Pacio’s strawweight world championship on the line. After originally being scheduled to face each other in June, the fight was postponed until December.

In that time, Brooks has continued to try and get inside the head of the champion with his trash-talking. ‘The Monkey God’ has produced three wins inside the circle to become the number one contender.

'The Passion' is coming into the fight off of three consecutive world title defenses. However, he has been out of action for over a year waiting for a worthy contender.

Despite the dominance that Pacio has had in the strawweight division, Jarred Brooks has relentlessly poked the bear. In an interview with MMA Sucka, Brooks said:

“I don’t think Joshua Pacio is ever gonna catch up to what I’ve brought and I have fought better than Joshua Pacio, no knock to him. I have not fought the Wushu caliber with the calculated mind that Joshua Pacio has, but there’s just no way man [that Pacio would win].”

'The Monkey God' added:

“I’ve already got the checkmate before you even moved your first pawn. I know that Josh isn’t gonna come close to my style.”

Watch the full interview below: