Joshua “The Passion” Pacio allayed fears on his well-being and assured his supporters that he’s doing just fine after his freak incident with Jarred “The Monkey God” Brooks at ONE 166: Qatar at Lusail Sports Arena.
“I saw God’s protection for me, I saw his glory in there. It’s not the victory, but how he actually protected me during that accident,” he said, in good spirits despite still wearing a neck brace.
Pacio reclaimed the ONE Strawweight MMA World Championship after Brooks was disqualified for an illegal slam, spiking the Filipino’s head to the mat.
It was a nerve-wracking moment for everyone especially with how the Lions Nation MMA stud hardly moved after the bell rung.
Pacio shared: “I was semi-unconscious during that time. I felt like I was standing up and fighting, but my body wasn’t responding. [Brooks’] punch actually brought me back to consciousness.”
The result of the match was the least of everyone’s concerns as everyone held their breath on Pacio’s condition—including that of Eduard “Landslide” Folayang.
“I actually didn’t know that I won the fight when I was headed to the hospital. Kuya Eduard Folayang was talking to me, and he actually didn’t tell me because his focus was entirely on my wellbeing. When we were in the hospital, that’s when I found out the result,” he said.
Now, the focus for Pacio is his recovery as he once again has the strawweight division as his kingdom.
And for Brooks? Well, Pacio’s respect just got bigger for his rival that he feels it’s a given that a trilogy will come once he’s fully recovered.
“That’s automatic, we will settle things in the future,” Pacio said. “My respect for Jarred Brooks just got bigger. We didn’t even talk about the trilogy. He came up to me, gave me a hug, there were tears on his face and he was telling me how glad he is that I’m okay.”
“We didn’t even talk about how we should settle things in the Circle, we talked about life, and how he’s so blessed that he can’t wait to go home and see his family.”
He ended: “At the end of the day, it’s just the grace of God. The victory that I was envisioning, I think that will happen in the trilogy.”