“There’s no fear of aggravating it” - Joshua Pacio guarantees rehabbed knee is fully healed ahead of Jarred Brooks trilogy
ONE strawweight MMA world champion Joshua Pacio moved to assure that his injured knee is fully healed, and he is ready to go to battle against American rival Jarred Brooks in their trilogy title fight next week.
'The Passion' makes his return to action at ONE 171: Qatar on Feb. 20 at the Lusail Sports Arena in Lusail. It his first match since undergoing surgery on his knee that he injured even before he took on Brooks in their title rematch in March last year also in Qatar.
In an interview with ONE Championship, Pacio gave an update on his knee and his state of readiness for his upcoming fight.
The Lions Nation MMA standout said:
"That’s all I wanted. It took all my fears away; it took all my hesitations away. There’s no fear of aggravating it anymore. I have a peace of mind this time around that I can wrestle, grapple, strike, work on my conditioning and game without thinking about anything."
At ONE 171: Qatar, Joshua Pacio and Brooks will try to give their match a definitive finish after their last fight came to an abrupt end when 'The Monkey God' was disqualified in the opening round for executing an illegal slam that had the Filipino fighter hitting his head first on the canvas.
The DQ forced Brooks to surrender the strawweight belt to Pacio, from whom he took it in their first encounter in December 2022.
For more information on ONE 171: Qatar, check out onefc.com.
Joshua Pacio says he was cautious in training coming from knee injury
To help him fully heal from his knee injury, Joshua Pacio said he and his team were cautious as they went about with his preparation for ONE 171: Qatar against Jarred Brooks. He said they made sure they did not aggravate anything.
He made this known in an interview with The MMA Superfan, highlighting that they were calculated in what they did in training, striking a balance between not overextending himself but also putting the needed work.
Joshua Pacio said:
"I don't have that superstitious thinking that prevents me from doing what I did before. But for sure, I've been more cautious in training. I'm cautious in such a way that I will not get injured again, but to say that I'm cautious in terms of doubting the positions I'm in is not accurate. I don't have the mindset of not being able to bring out my 100 percent best in training or in fighting. I never had that."
See the full interview below:
Pacio-Brooks III will be the co-headlining match at ONE 171: Qatar, sharing the stage with that between ONE bantamweight kickboxing world champion Jonathan Haggerty and challenger Wei Rui.