By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Jarred Brooks proved he can back up all his trash talk and was hailed as the new ONE Fighting Championship strawweight king after dethroning long-time champion and the Philippines’ pride Joshua Pacio.
After five grueling championship rounds, all judges rewarded the versatile challenger with a unanimous decision victory.
It was a classic Brooks opener after going for early takedowns to neutralize the Filipino champion’s striking and finishing ability.
As Brooks circled to his left side, Pacio gave in several times and got baited by the American’s takedown stance that went successful to end the first round on a high note.
The Team Lakay pride then retaliated in the next round and adjusted well against Brooks’ take down and grappling techniques.
Every time Brooks rushed in to hold Pacio’s body in an attempt for a slam, the Filipino wisely backpedaled and chose to fight in his desired stand-up scenarios.
Pacio continued his momentum in the next round as the Filipino striker hurt Brooks with his precise striking and ended the third period with efficient landed hits.
However, Brooks took control of the last two rounds and put up a masterful ground clinic. The American challenger wasted no time and bullied Pacio on the ground game.
Brooks summed the last round with another dominant performance and totally negated Pacio’s stand-up game by hooking his legs which led to his suffering in the ground.
The win broke Pacio’s two-year reign in the strawweight division after building up a winning streak when he took down Rene Catalan, Alex Silva, and a third match against Yosuke Saruta.
