By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
One of the best ONE Fighting Championship rivalries will take center stage once again as Filipino Mixed Martial Artist (MMA) Joshua Pacio is ready to square off with his arch-rival, Jarred Brooks, in the upcoming ONE 171 event on February 20, 2025.
This is their third meeting in the league’s strawweight division, with Brooks taking the first duel via a unanimous decision before Pacio retaliated in the rematch due to a disqualification ruling slapped against the American pug.
Brooks drew first blood in their first meeting and banked on his powerful stand-up game to neutralize Pacio’s signature counterpunching.
In the highly-anticipated rematch, Brooks received disqualification when he pulled off a dangerous spike takedown on Pacio that was prohibited in any combat sport including the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
Moments after the incident, Pacio had to be stretched out the venue and was forced to wear a neck brace for protection. Fortunately, the reigning Filipino champion didn’t endure any major injuries in the spinal cord and his upper body.
What kept Pacio out for almost a year after his second fight with Brooks was his aggravated anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in his knee. Months after his strict rehabilitation process, he then announced his ring comeback and is ready to conclude his unfinished business with his nemesis.
Their third showdown will take place in the famous Lusail Sports Arena located at the Al Ahli Sports Village in Al Masrouhiya, Qatar.
Before taking the dub via a disqualification ruling, Pacio scored a convincing win over Mansur Malachiev last October 6, 2023.
During that win, Pacio already showed vast improvement and had a more stable ground game. Against Brooks, he became defenseless in the sprawl action several times and the need to establish his grappling skills was quickly raised to his corner.
Pacio vowed that everyone would see a different version of him against Brooks. More decisive, quicker, and more critical with his stand-up game.
“Yeah, definitely. It’s going to be a new me. And, you know, that’s like one year, almost one year I think since my move to Lions Nation MMA and there’s a lot of changes, a lot of learnings happenings. And today, I’m more confident,” said Pacio.
