Jarred Brooks has the chance to right a past wrong and regain gold next year.
Brooks will rematch ONE 125-pound MMA champ Joshua Pacio on February 20th, just under a year after their controversial second meeting.
Appearing in the same building where he lost his title a few months ago, Brooks will face off against Pacio for the third time as part of a card from the Lusail Sports Arena in Lusai, Qatar, marking ONE’s second-annual trip to the country.
Earlier this year, Brooks’ run as ONE’s 125-pound champ came to an end in dramatic fashion. Rematching Pacio, whom he dethroned in late 2022 with a five-round unanimous decision, a sudden error from Brooks turned what looked to be an early win for him into a disqualification that made him lose his title.
Brooks picked up and slammed down Pacio just seconds into their title fight at ONE 166 in March, knocking out the Filipino fighter upon collision with the mat. Brooks celebrated what he thought was a 56-second win to regain his title and close out a rivalry. However, only moments later he would find out that ONE ruled the slam takedown as an illegal spike to the top of Pacio’s head, causing the result to go in favor of the challenger via DQ.
The dramatic sequence meant that Brooks’ first run as ONE MMA champ came to an end before he could successfully defend his belt once. It also marked his first defeat in years, putting to bed a winning streak that spanned more than half a dozen fights and dated back to the Michigan-based talent’s UFC run.
While an evened-up rivalry between Brooks and Pacio made it seem inevitable for the two to meet once again, the American has since even further strengthened his claim for another shot at the top title.. Brooks captured an interim belt in August, submitting Gustavo Balart in the first round with a rear naked choke.
Brooks, while riding the momentum of an interim title win, is also heading into this fight following a defeat. “The Monkey God” had an unsuccessful return to the 135-pound division earlier this month, dropping a split decision to promotional vet Reece McLaren.
Now back down to the 125-pound limit, Brooks will face off against a long-time ONE rival and look to regain the division’s top spot.
For Pacio, a fighter who has been in ONE’s title mix since 2018, he’ll be trying to extend his third run with the title early next year.
Along with the major MMA title bout, ONE announced that the card will be headlined by a clash between rising Chinese kickboxer Wei Rui and current 145-pound champ Jonathan Haggerty. The bout will be Haggerty’s first time putting his kickboxing belt on the line since earning the vacant title in 2023 against Fabricio de Andrade.
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