Joshua Pacio regained the ONE Strawweight MMA world title from Jarred Brooks after their rematch from 2022 ended in a DQ finish at ONE 166.
Through the trash talk and a highly-anticipated world title rematch that ended in controversial fashion, all’s well that ends well for Joshua Pacio and Jarred Brooks.
The two ONE Championship stars had breakfast together the morning after their clash at ONE 166: Qatar that ended via Brooks’ disqualification after just 56 seconds.
As Brooks attempted to take down Pacio, it resulted with the latter landing directly on his head. It was ruled as an illegal spike and Pacio won via DQ, regaining the ONE Strawweight MMA World Championship in the process.
[Related: ONE 166: Joshua Pacio reclaims strawweight world title after DQ win vs. Brooks]
In separate social media posts, the two rivals displayed remarkable sportsmanship.
My brother I am happy to see you and give you a big hug. Glad to see you’re happy and healthy,” Brooks wrote. He also earlier apologized to Pacio.
For his part, Pacio says the spike was just part of the dangers that come with being a mixed martial artist.
“Anything happens inside the circle. [Jarred and I] work hard to put on a show to everyone. But at the end of the day only athletes understand what athletes feel because they know the journey, the sacrifices, the blood and the sweat, how much time they put into,” Pacio wrote.
“My brother, you don’t need to be sorry because you didn’t do anything wrong. I will recover as soon as possible and we will run it back again,” he added.
With their series now tied at one match win apiece, and with the way the second fight ended, it would be natural to assume that Pacio and Brooks are headed for a trilogy.
Brooks won their initial fight in 2022, a unanimous decision to first take the ONE Strawweight title.