“It's not good enough” – Jarred Brooks praises Joshua Pacio’s refined game, but says outcome will be the same in rematch

ONE strawweight MMA world champion Jarred Brooks' confidence seems to be at an all-time high as ONE 166: Qatar approaches near.

On March 1 inside the Lusail Sports Arena, ‘The Monkey God’ runs it back against former king and top-ranked contender Joshua Pacio with his prestigious prize on the line.

Despite all the smack talk thrown in the way of the Lions Nation MMA athlete since their rematch was booked in December last year, Brooks does see some improvements in his rival’s arsenal.

Having shared the Circle with him for 25 minutes and catching him beat Mansur Malachiev in their ONE Fight Night 15 meeting in October last year, the king of the division had kind things to say about Pacio’s refined game.

Speaking to ONE Championship, ‘The Monkey God’ said:

“I'm not looking past him. I think that he's a great mixed martial artist, and I think that he has honed his skills down to the tip, but it's not good enough against Jarred Brooks.”

Not that he wants to be the bearer of bad news, but the Mash Fight Team athlete is eager to see off Pacio again to move on to other challenges on the global stage of ONE Championship.

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Jarred Brooks says hypothetical Demetrious Johnson match will be the ‘biggest fight’ of his career

Since claiming the strawweight MMA world title, Jarred Brooks has been set on testing himself against tougher tests under the ONE spotlight.

Having almost cleared up the entire list of contenders in the upper echelons of the 125-pound MMA division, Jarred Brooks is keen to collide in a dream contest against Demetrious Johnson or a striking contest against Prajanchai PK Saenchai or Jonathan Di Bella.

Between those names, however, the 31-year-old from Indiana sees ‘Mighty Mouse’ as one that makes the most sense.

In a separate interview with The South China Morning Post, Jarred Brooks offered:

“I think that I’m at the point in my career, where I'm on the edge, on the cusp of greatness, and with a finish of Joshua Pacio, who knows what could be next? I think that Demetrious Johnson could be a big fight for me but besides that, you know, I could go to flyweight, I could, you know, go against the little fart [Gustavo] Balart, I could go against Malachiev.”

He added:

“There’s a lot of opportunities here for me, but as far as marketability in a fight, I think Demetrious Johnson is the biggest fight for me.”

North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription can catch the entire ONE 166: Qatar card live and for free this Friday, March 1.