Joshua Pacio vs. Jarred Brooks for the unified ONE Strawweight MMA World Championship is set for ONE 171.
ONE Strawweight MMA World Champion Joshua “The Passion” Pacio believes interim king Jarred “The Monkey God” Brooks could have scored a victory at flyweight with a longer training camp and proper preparation.
Brooks dropped a split-decision loss to Reece “Lightning” McLaren in a flyweight MMA bout at ONE Fight Night 26 earlier this month in a fight in which Pacio believes McLaren’s size played a huge part.
“I think with a full fight camp, Jarred has a better chance of beating Reece McLaren,” he said ahead their unification world title bout set for ONE 171: Qatar on February 20, 2025, inside Lusail Sports Arena.
Still, that’s not to take any credit away from McLaren, who was a step ahead of Brooks in all aspects of the bout.
The Australian weathered an early storm from the American, as he escaped from Brooks’ patented back-mount that usually scores him submission wins.
Then the moment they got on their feet, McLaren leaned on his length as he kept Brooks at bay and connected on some clean shots.
“I’ll have to give credit to Reece. He fought a masterful fight. He maintained the distance and connected,” he said.
“Even though Brooks got his back, he stayed composed and scrambled out. When they got back on their feet, McLaren was really good. Sometimes Brooks would expect a straight, then McLaren would land an elbow.”
Pacio even learned a few things from McLaren in that fight that he could use against Brooks – at least the things that would suit his size and stature.
“Of course there are some things we’ve seen in that fight against McLaren, but I’ll keep it a secret for now because that’s gonna be a big part of our game plan,” he said.
“While we’ll be using that fight in our blueprint, I have to say that I don’t have Reece McLaren’s reach or size to use against him, so it’s something we have to consider.”