Joshua Pacio Issues Statement After DQ Win Over Jarred Brooks at ONE 166

Newly crowned ONE Championship strawweight (125-pound) king Joshua Pacio has issued a statement following his Round 1 disqualification win over Jarred Brooks at ONE Championship 166, which took place at the Lusail Sports Arena in Qatar on Friday.

Brooks and Pacio met in a rematch on Friday after “The Monkey God” took the strawweight title from Pacio via unanimous decision in their first meeting in December 2022. However, the long-awaited clash came to a screeching halt only 56 seconds in when Brooks slammed Pacio on his head and proceeded to unload vicious ground-and-pound shots on his foe until he was stopped by referee Herb Dean.

While Brooks jumped up on the cage to celebrate a quick finish, “The Monkey God” was swiftly notified that he’d been disqualified due to the illegal nature of the slam. As per ONE's global mixed martial arts ruleset, no spikes or throws on the head, neck or spine are allowed. As a result, Pacio is now the reigning strawweight champion.

Brooks was quick to issue a statement following the disappointing outing wishing his opponent a speedy recovery.

“[Joshua Pacio] wish nothing but the best for you brother,” he wrote. I hope you’re okay. I am sorry for letting down my family and the organization. I did not intentionally do anything. #andnew congratulations.”

Pacio, who seemed to be severely hurt as a result of Brooks’ onslaught, has now issued a statement responding to the former champion’s wishes while also addressing the anti-climactic nature of their clash.

“Hi everyone, thank you all for the love. I praise and thank God for His protection and guidance. He deserves all the praises and adoration.

“This is a dangerous sport we play in! Anything happens inside the circle. I and Jared 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. My brother … you don’t need to be sorry because you didn’t do anything wrong, you didn’t let anybody down remember that. You are a great champion, great person, and a great father. Everyone of us has our own struggles and I understand yours brother. Remember that Jesus is always there for us and he loves us so much. I’m so happy to see and hug you a while ago and have a little chat with you. Love you bro. I will recover as soon as possible and we will run it back again.”

As mentioned in his social media post, Pacio aims to make a quick recovery so the two can compete in a third meeting to settle the score.

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A post shared by Jarred Brooks (@the_monkeygod)

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A post shared by Joshua “The Passion” Pacio (@joshuapacio)