Despite anti-climactic ending to Brooks rematch, Joshua Pacio says 'it's mission accomplished' in quest to regain gold
Newly minted ONE strawweight MMA world champion Joshua Pacio couldn't be more happy with the outcome of his world title rematch with fierce rival Jarred Brooks. Their rematch at ONE 166: Qatar on March 1 was held inside the Lusail Sports Arena.
Although fans and pundits have raised their eyebrows at the method of victory, Pacio still believes that his mission was more than reclaiming the 26-pound golden belt. He explained this during his most recent appearance on The MMA Superfan's YouTube channel.
The Lions Nation MMA representative said:
"For me, it's mission accomplished as a Christian athlete. The main goal is people will see the glory of God and that's what happened. That's what people saw. Even Jarred Brooks, I know there were a lot of lessons he learned. When we were eating breakfast in the hotel, he said 'maybe God humbled me 'something like that."
Joshua Pacio was almost knocked unconscious during the match after Brooks picked him up and unintentionally hit him head-first down the canvas, which is an illegal strike under the global mixed martial arts ruleset.
This turn of events rendered 'The Passion' the victory by disqualification Despite what seemed like a damaging injury at first sight, the divisional king only sustained minor damage from the incident. He was cleared from the hospital after less than a day.
Joshua Pacio is willing to fight Jarred Brooks for a trilogy match to settle their score
After the anti-climactic finish from their second meeting that evened their head-to-head score to one apiece, Joshua Pacio stated that he is open to fighting Brooks for the third time to finally put an end to their rivalry and determine the better fighter between them.
The 28-year-old Filipino champion received high praise from Brooks because of the adjustments and improvements he saw in their rematch, specifically his kicks and revamped grappling skills.
North American viewers with an active Prime Video subscription can rewatch all the action from ONE 166: Qatar via the free event replay.