Black Belt Team 
Jarred Brooks took control of the strawweight throne in ONE Championship after a five-round battle with Joshua Pacio at ONE 164. The American completed his takeover of the division after arriving on the scene in 2021 with a mission to claim his first world title.
But it was not as easy as it may have looked. In a post-event interview with ONE, Brooks discussed the difficulties of implementing his game on Pacio in the middle rounds of their championship bout.
“In the second round, I did have a single leg, and I was like, oh crap, he’s actually doing really good defense right now. It’s like Jose Aldo’s defense. When I take people down, I take people down. And when I want to get a takedown, I get a takedown. And he did a really good job of nullifying my takedowns in the second and third,” said Brooks.
“But he’s definitely attached to his game. I think that that’s what brought my stand-up out a little bit more against him because he was worried about the takedowns. And that was my game plan past the second was, if I couldn’t get the takedown, at least fake it to where it’s like a stance, check, and wrestling, and then go on and you use whatever you need to use as far as your tools in your game plan.”
Even though he was forced to strike with the Team Lakay star, “The Monkey God” felt he was getting the better of the exchanges on the feet.
“But I would say that throughout the process, yeah, I was piecing him up as far as hitting his face, and that’s the most telling thing in a fight. So yeah, I felt like I was winning the striking exchanges. I was a little bit faster, and I got out of range quicker than he could hit me. And it would look really quick between both of us, you didn’t know what strike actually landed or anything like that, but I landed quite a few strikes on him.”
Now, as the champion, Brooks wears the bullseye on his back. Everyone will be gunning for a shot at his throne, and the American is fully aware that heavy is the head that wears the crown.
With contenders like Gustavo Balart and Jeremy Miado nipping at his heels already, Brooks had a message for the strawweight division’s contenders who are looking for a shot at the gold.
“Do you think that you have an advantage against me? I’ve already outthought you, and I’ve already paid attention to you. And you know, I’ve been stalking your social media for the past year and a half. So I already know you, and hopefully, you get to know me a little bit better. If you’ve watched my last fight, I’m a magician. I’ll change things as quickly as possible against you, the opponent,” said Brooks.
AND NEW! 👑 Jarred Brooks Defeats Joshua Pacio To Claim ONE Gold 🏆
Filipino warrior Joshua Pacio and American superstar Jarred Brooks threw down in the main event of ONE 164 for the ONE Strawweight World Title! Subscribe and…
One championship, Jarred brooks, Mma
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