Joshua Pacio: WATCH: Bitter rivals Joshua Pacio, Jarred Brooks electrify Manila in heated first duel for strawweight MMA throne

Joshua Pacio and Jarred Brooks' long history with one another began when the latter challenged the former for the throne in December 2022.

The build to the first installment in their saga was chaotic due to Brooks' relentless trash talk that the Filipino champion did not take too kindly, believing that 'The Monkey God' had unnecessarily crossed multiple lines.

What ensued inside the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines, was an action-packed, five-round encounter that lived up to its heated build. Unfortunately, 'The Passion' could not make Brooks pay for his habitual line stepping and lost the gold via unanimous decision.

Watch the highlights of their fight below, which ONE posted on Instagram:

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The Lions Nation MMA star regained the crown from Brooks in March 2024 via disqualification after the latter inadvertently spiked Pacio on his head during a takedown attempt, which is illegal under ONE's Global Ruleset.

They fought for a third time this past February at ONE 171: Qatar, where Pacio became the undisputed king of the 125-pound MMA division with a shocking TKO of the then-interim strawweight MMA king in round two.

Eduard Folayang heralds Philippine MMA's resurgence with Joshua Pacio and Denice Zamboanga's world title wins

Former ONE lightweight MMA world champion Eduard Folayang is ecstatic that Philippine MMA is once again on the rise following Joshua Pacio and newly crowned undisputed ONE women's atomweight MMA world champion Denice Zamboanga's world title-winning outings to start 2025.

In an interview with ONE, the Lions Nation MMA founder said:

"That's what we want to see now. And I'm happy that we're on the cusp of doing it again. The fact that we still have two World Champions means that Philippine MMA didn't stagnate. It continues to evolve, and it continues to thrive."

About the author

Karl has been an MMA writer at Sportskeeda since 2023. He holds a Bachelor of Arts major in history, which helps him pay attention to the finer details while writing, and also has first-hand experience in boxing. He has a total experience of 5 years, and has worked for the International Business Times.

Karl turned into an MMA fan back in 2011 after watching Tito Ortiz defeat Ryan Bader via first-round submission at UFC 132. He has interviewed ONE world champions like Eduard Folayang, Joshua Pacio, Stamp Fairtex, and Tawanchai in his career so far.

On the non-MMA side of things, he interviewed WWE superstar Matt Riddle in 2021 and his question about Roman Reigns elicited an interesting answer which was widely covered by outlets like Sportskeeda and Cultaholic Wrestling's YouTube channel. He has also interviewed NBA stars Dwight Howard, Nick Young, Andre Roberson, Shabazz Muhammad, Jason Williams and Brian Scalabrine plus Filipino women's volleyball star Alyssa Valdez.

Karl ensures to double-check facts before using them in articles, and reads up on potential topics for pieces a day before. In his off time, he likes to play video games, and keep up with basketball and pro wrestling.

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Edited by Anurag Mitra