Headliners Joshua Pacio and Jarred Brooks have a score to settle at ONE 171: Qatar
Brooks, at the time, was the ONE Strawweight MMA world champion but a mistimed slam inside the first two minutes of their clash resulted in a disqualification, a stripped title – and Pacio having to be helped from the cage.
It wasn't the way the Filipino wanted to reclaim his title, but now the pair get the chance to do it all again at ONE 171: Qatar.
While Pacio was fortunate to escape serious injury after being spiked on the top of his head by Brooks, it has been a troublesome knee injury that has kept him out of competition – and this week's bout will be his first since that day in March last year.
On the flip side, American Brooks has kept himself busy. A first round submission of Gustavo Balart handed him the interim strawweight title in Pacio's absence. Then in December he decided to make a temporary move to flyweight to take on Reece McLaren. A split-decision loss over five rounds was not the result Brooks wanted, but he certainly came out of it with no credibility damage.
Now at the Lusail Sports Arena in Qatar, the two will meet for a third time – to finally unify the strawweight class.
Pacio has made the walk to the cage 17 times in ONE Championship since debuting in 2016, and is a three-time strawweight champion. Every time he has suffered adversity in his career, the 29-year-old has always returned stronger, and while he's not coming off a loss – almost a year out of action through injury will always leave some question marks.
For Brooks this is a day of redemption, for a title lost on a technicality, and the opportunity for him to reclaim what he believes to be rightfully his.
A clash of styles, and a clash of personalities – this is the blockbuster main event the Qatar fans have been waiting for.
You can watch ONE 171: Qatar, which takes place on Thursday February 20th at 5pm Mecca at the Lusail Sports Arena in Qatar. For ticket information, click here. Alternatively, you can watch the event live on BeIn Sports or at watch.onefc.com.
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