ONE Strawweight champion Jarred Brooks has up the ante on his trash talk against Joshua Pacio, questioning his rivals move from Team Lakay to Lions Naiton.
ONE Strawweight MMA World Champion
Jarred “The Monkey God” Brooks continued his tirades on
Joshua “The Passion” Pacio, and this time he hit close to home.
Ahead of their long-awaited rematch at ONE 166: Qatar this Friday, 1 March, inside Lusail Sports Arena, Brooks has upped his level of trash talking as he tries to get inside Pacio’s head once again.
The American questioned Pacio’s decision to leave Team Lakay – the squad that was home to the 28-year-old since he turned pro – doubting the Filipino’s loyalty after losing.
“I understand that it might have been an issue or whatever with Mark, but loyalty goes beyond anything man. I'm gonna keep with my coaches win, loss, or draw, which I don't see myself losing or getting a draw,” he said.
“I think that them leaving like that [shows those] guys just hate losing, and I get it. But after I beat you again, Josh, are you going to leave? Are you going to leave Lions Nation? Are you going to start to question your team? Are you going to start to question yourself?”
Adding more fuel to the fire, Brooks feels like this move will ultimately bite Pacio in the tail.
After all, if there’s one person who truly knows how Pacio can bounce back, it’s Team Lakay head coach Mark Sangiao. Brooks doubts that Eduard Folayang – as good as a career he’s had – will replicate that.
“I think he's gonna have a worse camp than what he did with Team Lakay. My coach James Lee, he is on my ass every single day. And he's just like, ‘You're gonna do this, you're gonna do this.’ He knows me like the back of his hand, right?” Brooks said.
“Eduard Folayang does not know Joshua Pacio like the back of his hand like Mark [Sangiao] does. So I think that that's gonna play a key factor in this matchup as well.”
For Brooks, he’s not only going to take pleasure in retaining his world title over Pacio, he’s going to do it for Sangiao and Team Lakay – a squad he’s grown to respect after their wars in ONE Championship.
[Related: ONE: Joshua Pacio raves on new approach to training camp ahead of Brooks rematch]
“Mark Sangiao, this is for you and your son, man. I saw you guys over in Bangkok and you guys are awesome people,” he said.
“I'm not saying that Joshua and Lions Nation, that those guys [aren’t] awesome people. They're great Christians. I'm a Christian myself. So it's not like [I’m] putting them off to the side with that, but I just think [Joshua leaving] was a [weak] decision.”