“The game is still the game” – Jarred Brooks says he won’t swap old habits despite revived ties with Joshua Pacio

Former ONE strawweight MMA world champion Jarred Brooks said he will continue to play mind games with Filipino rival Joshua Pacio after they straightened things out between them following the controversial ending to their title rematch earlier this month.

The two stop strawweight fighters collided at ONE 166: Qatar on March 1, where 'The Monkey God' lost his world title after being disqualified for executing an illegal move in the first round that saw Pacio getting slammed to the canvas head and neck first.

The illegal spike merited an automatic disqualification and instantly cost Jarred Brooks the ONE strawweight MMA world title. He has since talked to Pacio about it, how it was unintentional, and apologized for what happened.

In an interview with The MMA Superfan, the Indiana native said that despite clearing the air and reviving ties with the Filipino champion, he will continue with his psy war, highlighting how it is part of who he is a fighter and of the game.

Jarred Brooks said:

"I'm not afraid to portray who I am, yeah and like I said there's no emotions going into that cage and, you know, we've spoken. I've gotten into his head, you know. All of that you know is to literally get a mental advantage on my opponent, right? So the game is still the game at the end of the day."

The loss was the first for Jarred Brooks in MMA under ONE Championship after winning four straight to start his campaign in the promotion, including one over Pacio in December 2022 to seize the ONE strawweight MMA gold.

Replay of ONE 166 is available for free to North American viewers with an active Prime Video subscription.

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Jarred Brooks glad to see Joshua Pacio not badly hurt after scary incident in their title rematch

Jarred Brooks was disappointed to lose the ONE strawweight MMA world title to Joshua Pacio in their title rematch at ONE 166: Qatar on March 1 by disqualification. But he is glad 'The Passion' escaped major damage after the scary incident ending their clash.

'The Monkey God' saw himself dethroned after being disqualified for executing an illegal spike in the opening round of his rematch with Pacio. The move had the Filipino champion having his head slammed first on the canvas, which is not allowed under the ONE Championship rule.

Pacio was taken to the hospital after for observation but was eventually released and returned to his hotel.

In the aftermath of the incident, the two tough fighters were able to have a moment to talk about what happened on fight night.

Brooks took to Instagram to express his gladness that Pacio came away without major damage and was in high spirits.

He captioned a photo of him and the Lions Nation MMA standout with:

"My brother I am so happy to see you and give you a big hug!! Glad to see you're happy and healthy!! Congrats champ!! Had a good conversation and breakfast with @lionsnationmma all great men!!"

Given how their rematch ended, both fighters are expecting a trilogy fight to settle things once and for all.