Combat sports fans won’t have to wait too much longer to see Joshua Pacio and Jarred Brooks settle their trilogy in ONE Championship.
Brooks put together three-straight victories after joining ONE in 2021 to earn a crack at strawweight MMA titleholder Pacio at ONE Championship 164, where “The Monkey God” spoiled Pacio’s plans for a fourth successful title defense when he took the belt via unanimous decision.
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“The Miracle” rebounded with a win over Mansur Malachiev to earn a rematch with Brooks at ONE 166, but that matchup only lasted 56 seconds before Brooks was disqualified for spiking Pacio and relinquished the strawweight title as a result.
Brooks went on to win the division’s interim belt at ONE Fight Night 4 with Pacio sidelined due to injury, and now ONE Championship has confirmed to MMA Knockout that the pair will complete their trilogy just under a year removed from their second fight when they meet in a title unification bout at ONE 171: Qatar on February 20.
Qatar’s Lusail Sports Arena hosted the rematch between Brooks and Pacio at ONE 166 in March of 2023, and last week the promotion announced that it would be returning to Qatar on February 20 for what will be its second event of 2025 after kicking off the year with ONE Fight Night 27 in January.
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The trilogy bout will mark a surprisingly quick turnaround for Brooks, as “The Monkey God” just competed last Friday at ONE Fight Night 26 when he moved up to flyweight for a matchup with Reece McLaren and lost a unanimous decision.
The official announcement for ONE 171: Qatar notes that the event will feature “multiple World Title matchups”, so with Pacio vs. Brooks now set fans can still expect that at least one more championship bout will be added to the February 20 card in the coming weeks.
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