At ONE 164, Jarred Brooks put on another impressive performance inside the circle. In the biggest fight of his career to date, Brooks dethroned ONE strawweight world champion Joshua Pacio in front of the defending championβs home fans in Manila.
The American continued his perfect run in ONE Championship, making it four consecutive wins since signing with the promotion. On December 3, he faced another step-up in competition, but was once again able to back up all of his talking in the buildup once he stepped inside the cage.
βThe Monkey Godβ proved that he could beat Joshua Pacio wherever the fight played out, striking with the explosive Team Lakay fighter as well as taking him down several times.
During his post-event press conference, Brooks said that he still has a lot to show in ONE Championship with plenty of room to improve as a fighter:
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βI told you guys, itβs like 30 percent. Itβs like less than what Iβm capable of. Itβs like finding the confidence and the ring time. Thatβs huge to me. I just got to make sure that I keep on building my confidence, building my hands, and building my wrestling.β
Whilst Brooks has already spoken about wanting to face ONE flyweight world champion Demetrious Johnson, a rematch with Joshua Pacio could also be on the cards at some point in the future.
Fans react to Jarred Brooksβ swift back-take of Joshua Pacio
ONE Championship fans shared their thoughts on Jarred Brooksβ slick grappling against Joshua Pacio in the main event of ONE 164. βThe Monkey Godβ was able to showcase his wrestling on Saturday night to set up his submission threats and put Joshua Pacio into a defensive gameplan.
After the fight, ONE Championship posted a clip where Brooks was able to catch Pacioβs right leg and use it to take his back and secure a takedown. The promotion posted the video with the caption:
βJarred Brooks takes the back! π€ΌββοΈ @the_monkeygodβ
Hereβs what some fans had to say about Jarred Brooksβ swift back take on Joshua Pacio in the main event at ONE 164:
βMan, Pacio just didn't do enough the whole fight. He needed to be way more active than he was. It's OK controlling the centre of the circle but he just waited for Brooks to attack.β
Another fan responded:
βSadly as a Filipino rooting for this team, there's an obvious hole now in team Lakays grappling department that they should patch. And they should mix up their game, and not be too 'Team Lakay' predictable. Hope they bring in top-notch coaches to help them.β
Check out the Instagram post below: