New ONE Strawweight champion Joshua Pacio recalls the immediate aftermath of his title rematch with Jarred Brooks, which ended via disqualification following an illegal spike.
Grand celebration, victory dance, lifting trophies—this is how other athletes usually savor their hard-earned championships.
However, Filipino mixed martial artist Joshua Pacio did not have the opportunity to perform any of this during his most recent fight. Pacio had to rush into an emergency room after being unintentionally head slammed by his American rival Jarred Brooks in their world title rematch at ONE 166 in Qatar.
The man they call "The Passion" regained the ONE Strawweight World Championship with the decision, as Brooks was disqualified because of his illegal spike.
Talking to One Sports upon his return to the Philippines, Pacio shared what happened after the controversial ending to his second fight with Brooks.
“‘Yung right after the fight, masakit talaga. Kasi talagang semi unconscious ako pagkatapos no’n [head slam]. Tapos ‘yung parang gumising talaga sa akin, ‘yung first na suntok niya. Kaya nakapag-cover ako. Hindi ko pa talaga alam na nanalo ako until nasa ambulance ako. Nung sinabi ni Kuya Eduard [Folayang] na nanalo tayo via disqualification.” said Pacio.
In the midst of it, Pacio believes that what Jarred Brooks did was unintentional. Brooks is a former wrestler, and takedowns are part of their arsenal.
“Hindi naman niya [Jarred Brooks] sinasadya, eh. He’s a natural wrestler. Nasa instinct niya. Pero alam niya ‘yung rules. No’ng nire-review daw niya ‘yung laban, on the way siya sa hotel, parang hindi ko intensyon ‘yon. Sabi niya [Jarred Brooks] sa sarili niya. Hindi ko intensyon gawin ‘yon," he added.
Meanwhile, all’s well that ends well between Joshua and Jarred, as they showed great sportsmanship after the fight.
In his Facebook post, Pacio wrote, “My brother @the_monkeygod , you don’t need to be sorry because you didn’t do anything wrong, you didn’t let anybody down. Remember that.”
Pacio is now recovering from his neck injury but is looking forward to their third match against Brooks.
ALSO READ: ONE 166: Joshua Pacio, Jarred Brooks share breakfast time after controversial finish to title rematch
Watch the full interview here (With reports from Maureen Muarip/One Sports):