"It was all worth it" - Joshua Pacio still views ONE 166 triumph as a plus after enduring one of his toughest camps
Joshua Pacio reclaimed the ONE strawweight MMA world title at ONE 166: Qatar in a fashion he never would have seen coming.
The former divisional kingpin was set to meet Jarred Brooks in a rematch inside Qatar's Lusail Sports Arena for a long-awaited showdown following their first meeting in December 2022.
Looking to avenge his loss from ONE 164, Pacio went through a lot of setbacks in his training camp, as he revealed in an interview with The MMA Superfan.
Though he may have won back the title via disqualification in the opening minute of the contest, 'The Passion' believes this is still worth celebrating after everything he went through.
Joshua Pacio explained his viewpoint on celebrating with the belt and why he feels justified in doing so:
"My team and everyone who supports me, especially my family know everything I went through. The injury I had before the fight, only a few people knew about that. The fact that I was offloaded on my first try going to Qatar. After all the struggles, in the end, it was all worth it. Satisfaction and difficulty-wise, I consider this 95 percent for."
Watch the full interview below:
Joshua Pacio already knows what is next for him
Whilst he may have evened the scores with Jarred Brooks to avenge his loss and take back the top spot, Joshua Pacio knows what is next for him.
The strawweight world champion will need to close out this chapter with Brooks for good by meeting him in a trilogy fight which will undoubtedly call for another gruelling training camp.
This part of their careers is tied to each other and is far from over after the way their clash in Qatar on March 1 ended. If you think Brooks is going to let it lie that his former foe is celebrating winning the belt via disqualification, you have another thing coming.
North American viewers with an active Prime Video subscription can rewatch all the action from ONE 166: Qatar via the free event replay.