Joshua Pacio Ready To Take On Jarred Brooks After Snapping Mansur Malachiev’s Undefeated Streak

Joshua Pacio is back in the winner’s column and is setting his sights on taking back the ONE Strawweight MMA World Title. Last weekend, “The Passion” took a hard-earned victory over the erstwhile undefeated star Mansur Malachiev at ONE Fight Night 15 inside the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. 

With both men looking to earn a shot at Jarred Brooks’ ONE Strawweight MMA World Championship, Pacio standing as the most dominant champion of the division, and Malachiev being one of only two ranked fighters “The Monkey God” has yet to face, their match was highly anticipated.

The ONE Fight Night 15 victory hardened Joshua Pacio’s resolve to grab the divisional gold

The battle was hard-fought, but it went down mostly as expected. Pacio unleashed his signature striking, and Malachiev used his vaunted ground game to try and control the match. The Filipino star admirably held his own on the ground, however, preventing his rival from dealing too much significant damage while on his guard. 

When the final bell rang, each man believed they had done enough. But it was the former divisional king who was declared the winner, and he credited his opponent for giving his best in the contest. “I was throwing heavy shots, and I think it’s the damage category [where I won]. Yes, he took me down, but he didn’t damage me from my guard,” he told ONE after the fight.

“In the second round, I heard him struggling. But, you know, for us, Mansur and I, this is our shot for a title. So, we gave it our all. He was very hard to get. He’s undefeated for a reason”. With the win, Pacio cemented his spot as the top-ranked strawweight MMA contender. When asked if he believes a rematch with Brooks is next, the Lions Nation MMA member said he thought so, even though he was critical of his showing on Friday night. 

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“I think so. But honestly, I’m not impressed with my performance right now. I need to go to the gym again and work harder, you know? I was not relaxed. I was concentrated on throwing the power shots because I saw the damage. And I was eager to throw power shots,” he recalled.

Joshua Pacio may face another challenger before a shot at Jarred Brooks

“It really got in my head – to finish him. But that’s not how it was supposed to happen. I should have been more relaxed, throw my combinations more confidently.” Despite being the first man to put an L on Malachiev’s record, Pacio was left unsatisfied, as he didn’t find the finish.

As such, he made it clear that he wasn’t closing the doors on a potential matchup with another top-five contender before he rematches the man who took the World Title from him last December. “If they give me Jarred Brooks, I’ll grab it. Like what I’ve said, if they give me [#2-ranked contender] Bokang [Masunyane] or someone else in the top five, I’ll still grab it,” he said. 

“I’m going to go home and rest. I’m eager to go back to the training camp [and] watch my errors in the fight. Because honestly, like I said, I was not impressed with my performance, and I need to come back and show people that I really deserve to be a champion again.”

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