We all know that getting up in the morning is a pain. Getting up in the morning when it’s early on the alarm clock is even more annoying. This is assuredly a fact of life, but sometimes throughout the year, we’ll have reason enough to get up early.
This coming Friday, March 1, is one of those reasons to get up early. If you’re inside the United States and Canada, be certain to set your alarms for around 7 am ET/ 4 am PT so you have enough time to get up and stretch before making the trek downstairs to the kitchen to make the pot of coffee because you’ve got some MMA after dawn to watch.
Your new month kicks off with action from ONE Championship as the promotion makes its debut visit to the nation of Qatar for ONE 166. Ordinarily, if you’re in North America, not only do you have to get up early to watch the fights, but you also have to pay a fee. This isn’t the case here.
Amazon Prime Video will carry the event live and free with a subscription to the platform beginning at 7:30 am ET/ 4:30 am PT Friday morning. For those of you outside of North America, access watch.onefc.com to see local broadcast designations for this show.
Championship Tripleheader Begins at Strawweight Friday
All told, ONE 166 features 10 total bouts, as well as a contracted catchweight boxing match at 147 lbs. Highlighting the activities is a championship tripleheader at the top of the card.
First off, strawweight (125 lbs.) gold is up for grabs in a rematch between incumbent champion Jarred Brooks (20-2, 1 NC MMA, 4-0 ONE Championship) and No. 1 contender Joshua Pacio (21-4 MMA, 12-4 ONE Championship.) As with most MMA title bouts, this one is an advertised maximum of five rounds at five minutes per round.
RELENTLESS!
Joshua Pacio will challenge Jarred Brooks for the ONE Strawweight MMA World Championship at ONE 166: Qatar
#ONE166: Qatar presented by @VisitQatar @MediacityQa @OoredooQatar
March 1 at 3:30PM ASTTickets:https://t.co/x9abdwimwYhttps://t.co/U823ZzVbPr pic.twitter.com/1Hd1QCQVFf
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) February 26, 2024
The Series So Far
Brooks and Pacio have only met inside the cage once before. On Dec. 3, 2022, Brooks took the original bout after five rounds (unanimous decision) in Singapore. How will the rematch play out?
Fighter Comparison and Betting Odds
Heading into the rematch on Friday, challenger Joshua Pacio stands as the taller man at 5-foot-4, compared to the 5-foot-3 frame of champion Jarred Brooks. The titleholder owns a 63-inch reach, with no such information accessible for the top contender at press time.
The oddsmakers have Jarred Brooks installed as a -400 favorite on the money line, while Joshua Pacio counters as a +285 underdog. If you plan on betting on this or any other fight happening this weekend, please wager responsibly.
Brooks Taking on New Challenge: Fatherhood
Champion Jarred Brooks has posted a record of 5-0 in his last five MMA fights. Currently, he’s on a seven-fight unbeaten streak dating back to September of 2018.
Prior to the original bout vs. Pacio, he submitted Bokang Masunyane (10-1 MMA, 4-1 ONE Championship) in April of 2022. Since last we saw him in the cage, Brooks has become a father and he’s explained to ONE Championship that he’s already got athletic aspirations for his daughter.
“Every day, I take her to the gym,” Brooks mentioned. “She loves it. She’s going to be walking really, really fast. She’s got those athletic aspirations from her dad and mom. And I’m going to put her in gymnastics right away. Get her into some wrestling and see how she feels after that.”
Will Brooks defend the champion for his daughter? Wake up early on Friday and find out.
Pacio Seeking to Correct Mistakes in ONE 166 on Friday
In the other corner, Joshua Pacio has posted a mark of 4-1 over his last five contests. Most recently, he avenged his defeat to Brooks on Oct. 6 when he bested Mansur Malachiev (12-1 MMA, 2-1 ONE Championship) by unanimous decision.
The challenger spoke to ONE Championship recently, discussing the errors he made during the first fight with Brooks.
“I lost in a fight where I didn’t showcase my absolute best,” Pacio said. That disappointment lingered with me for a long time. Now, I’m turning that disappointment into my fuel for this fight. I know the lapses I committed in the first fight, and in the rematch, I will aim to rectify them.”
For Joshua Pacio, focus is the key heading into the rematch. If he stays focused, he can leave Qatar with the championship at 125.
Analysis, Film Study, and Prediction
Stylistically, this strawweight championship looks to favor Jarred Brooks, a former collegiate wrestler for Indiana Tech University in Fort Wayne and Notre Dame College in Euclid, OH, near Cleveland, compared to Joshua Pacio’s background as a Sanda fighter.
Watch for Brooks to Lock up a Submission
Given that Jarred Brooks has a college wrestling background, it stands to reason that he’ll try to take Friday’s contest to the ground. When he gets an opponent to the mat, it can be a sight to behold, like it was against Lito Adiwang in 2021.
During the second round of the fight, Brooks dumped Adiwang and the latter sprawled. This effort proved fruitless, with the former maintaining his cage control and softening the latter up with ground and pound shots.
While Adiwang rose back to his feet, Brooks took his neck and scored with some knee strikes in the clinch. After a pause for an illegal blow, Brooks dumped Adiwang once more, quickly moving to secure an arm-triangle choke.
If Jarred Brooks dumps Joshua Pacio early on this Friday, the fight could be a wrap.
Joshua Pacio’s Fists Could Tell the Story
In the other corner, look for Joshua Pacio to try and pacify Jarred Brooks’ ground game with strikes. He finished a 2017 fight vs. the now-retired Roy Doliguez in devastating fashion.
The fighters began round two trading strikes, but Pacio unloaded with a vicious backfist to put Roy Doliguez down and out in under a minute. If Joshua Pacio lands the first punch of the fight, it could be the only punch you see in that contest on Friday morning.
Final Thoughts
As we said earlier on in the breakdown, aside from the Christmas holiday, you don’t really have a good reason to get up early in the morning most days throughout the year. Be sure to get a good night’s sleep on Thursday so that you don’t miss this title fight.
Prediction: Jarred Brooks by Third-Round Submission.
