ONE Strawweight MMA World Champion Joshua Pacio left no one in doubt about who the division's king was at ONE 171: Qatar late last week.
“The Passion” toppled interim titleholder Jarred Brooks to unify the World Title in the main event last Thursday, February 20, rallying back in the second frame to stop his American counterpart via TKO inside Doha, Qatar’s Lusail Sports Arena.
Pacio began the battle on the back foot. He was taken down early on and forced to fight off every submission Brooks had in his arsenal, putting him in hot water in several sequences.
However, the Filipino star stayed patient, knowing he had prepared for all eventualities. And when Brooks emerged as a depleted challenger in the second frame, Pacio turned the bout on its head, eventually finishing the American with ruthless ground-and-pound.
“The D’Arce was not actually close. Maybe the guillotine. And the last one was like 70 percent there. But you know, there are a lot of guys choking me out in the gym. I’ve been there a hundred times in that position, and I know the feeling. And yeah, it is what it is. I escaped it,” he said.
“My jiu-jitsu coach, my wrestling coach, they would be there like two to three hours. We’ve been working on every position that Jarred would do. So, I was very confident that wherever the fight would go, ground, stand-up, I was very confident.”
When he lost the gold to Brooks at ONE 164 in December 2022, many fans concluded that Pacio’s time atop ONE’s strawweight MMA division had ended for good.
But “The Passion” is more than just a nickname for him. His battles for the throne across his nine-year tenure in the promotion show the fiery dedication he gives to his craft, and he never lost hope of ruling the roost once again.
Pacio regained the crown against Brooks at ONE 166 last March, but the win came by disqualification, so the chirps from the haters only became louder because of the result.
The seven-time World Champion had to wait 11 months for the perfect opportunity to silence them all. But he did it. And now that the belt is firmly around his waist, he feels a huge weight has been lifted off his shoulders.
“[The win was] just a release for me because there were a lot of people talking behind me, doubting me. ‘You can’t do it. You can’t do it,” Pacio said.
“You know, at the end of the day, I was just very focused on winning and training. I’ve been through a lot because of the injuries, but, you know, it’s just a relief. There’s so much joy and happiness.”
