Joshua Pacio’s candid remark on how he’ll dethrone Jarred Brooks in their rematch at ONE 166: Qatar 

Former ONE strawweight MMA world champion Joshua Pacio doesn't see himself leaving Qatar empty-handed.

The Filipino sensation is determined to get his belt back in a grudge rematch against current divisional king ‘The Monkey God’ Jarred Brooks on Friday, March 1, inside the Lusail Sports Arena.

According to Pacio, there are only two outcomes playing out in his mind. He told The Peninsular Qatar:

“I see two things — it’s either I win by knockout or I win by decision.”

It’s been over a year since ‘The Passion’ surrendered his belt to Brooks at ONE 164 in Manila. Their first match was built upon the animosity they had for each other - an animosity first initiated by Brooks and his trash-talking ways.

Pacio, for his part, did well to compose himself. He didn’t play into Brooks’ mind games and stayed focused throughout their match. Unfortunately, after a close five-round battle, Pacio lost to Brooks by unanimous decision.

Since ONE 164, the Team Lakay representative has remained as active as he could to build his skills and work his way up the ladder. At ONE Fight Night 15, Pacio punched his ticket to another world championship opportunity with another pivotal victory against No. 5 ranked strawweight Mansur Malachiev.

ONE 166: Qatar will air live on March 1 via global pay-per-view on watch.onefc.com.

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Joshua Pacio on learning to be more relaxed during the execution of his performances

The biggest takeaway Joshua Pacio received after the Mansur fight was to learn how to control his emotions.

Pacio had a lot of big moments during the fight. He connected with some good punches mid-round which saw Mansur weakening at the toes. The excitement and adrenaline certainly got the better of him soon afterward as the damage on the Russian became more prominent.

Luckily, his opponent never got his second wind or the match would’ve looked a lot different than it did. Knowing this, Pacio has promised to work hard on fighting smarter.

Speaking to ONE, he said:

“I was not relaxed, I was concentrated on throwing the power shots because I saw the damage. And I was eager to throw power shots. So, it really got in my head, to finish him. But that’s not how it was supposed to happen. I should have been more relaxed.”