Joshua Pacio ready for rematch against Jarred Brooks after ONE Fight Night 15 win

By BJPENN.COM Staff - October 11, 2023

Joshua Pacio is riding a wave of momentum following his recent victory over Mansur Malachiev.

Joshua Pacio

Both men squared off against each other at ONE Fight Night 15 on Prime Video last Friday, October 6. In front of a capacity crowd at Bangkok’s Lumpinee Boxing Stadium, Pacio prevailed by unanimous decision.

While the win solidified his position as the #1 contender in the strawweight division, it also reignited the talk of a potential rematch with Jarred Brooks.

Their first encounter in December 2022 saw Brooks pick up a unanimous decision victory. This paved the way for “The Monkey God” to dethrone Pacio as the ONE Strawweight MMA World Champion.

Following his hard-fought win over Malachiev, Pacio expressed his readiness to run it back with Brooks.

“If they give me Jarred Brooks, I’ll grab it,” he said.

However, his ambitions don’t end with just Brooks. While the rematch is a tantalizing prospect, he remains open to facing other contenders at 125 pounds.

“If they give me [#2-ranked contender] Bokang [Masunyane] or someone else in the top five, I’ll still grab it,” Pacio said.

Joshua Pacio criticizes his performance at ONE Fight Night 15

Despite coming out on top of Mansur Malachiev at ONE Fight Night 15 on Prime Video, Joshua Pacio is far from content.

“The Passion” acknowledges the lapses in his performance and is resolute in addressing them.

“I’m not impressed by my performance. I need to go to the gym again and work harder, you know? 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,” Pacio said.

“But that’s not how it was supposed to happen. I should have been more relaxed, throw my combinations more confidently.”

Pacio recognizes that his next opponent will come from the division’s elite. This fuels his motivation to improve and reach even greater heights in his career.

“I’m going to go home and rest. I’m eager to go back to the training camp, watch my errors in the fight because honestly, like I said, I was not impressed by my performance. I need to come back and show people that I really deserve to be a champion again,” he said.


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Joshua Pacio MMA News ONE Championship