Joshua Pacio reflects on the lessons he learned after losing world title to Jarred Brooks: “I was very stagnant”

Former ONE world champion Joshua Pacio learned a lot from his lopsided loss to Jarred Brooks last year.

‘The Passion’ will be back in action this Friday night as he looks to bounce back after surrendering the strawweight MMA world title to ‘The Monkey God’ at ONE 164. Joshua Pacio will face another incredibly tough test as he matches up with undefeated Russian prospect Mansur Malachiev inside the legendary Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok.

Ahead of his long-awaited return, Pacio looked back on his devastating defeat in December and, more importantly, what he learned from the experience.

“It’s more than just the skills when you ask what I’ve learned from that loss against Jarred Brooks,” Pacio said in an interview with ONE Championship. “It’s more about the mental aspect and the importance of being confident in a match. Looking at that fight, I was very stagnant. I was just waiting for him to shoot for a takedown and defend, so I was really limited.”

Prior to his loss to Jarred Brooks, Joshua Pacio had won eight of his last nine bouts and was riding a wave of momentum backed by four straight victories. He’ll look to regain some of that steam by handing well-rounded Russian standout Mansur Malachiev the first loss of his combat sports career.

Malachiev delivered an impressive promotional debut in June, scoring a first-round submission victory over Jeremy Miado. The win moved him to 11-0 overall with nine finishes, including six KOs and three by way of submission.

Will Malachiev continue his climb up the strawweight rankings this Friday night, or will Joshua Pacio reassert himself as the No. 1 contender in the division and possibly set up a rematch with Brooks?

Amazon Prime Video subscribers in North America can catch all the action at ONE Fight Night 15: Le vs. Freymanov on Prime Video live and for free in U.S. primetime on October 6.