Brooks, at the time, was the ONE Strawweight MMA world champion however a mistimed slam inside the primary two minutes of their conflict resulted in a disqualification, a stripped title – and Pacio having to be helped from the cage.
Whereas Pacio was lucky to escape critical harm after being spiked on the highest of his head by Brooks, it has been a troublesome knee harm that has stored him out of competitors – and this week’s bout might be his first since that day in March final 12 months.
On the flip facet, American Brooks has stored himself busy. A primary spherical submission of Gustavo Balart handed him the interim strawweight title in Pacio’s absence. Then in December he determined to make a momentary transfer to flyweight to tackle Reece McLaren. A break up-determination loss over 5 rounds was not the end result Brooks needed, however he actually got here out of it with no credibility harm.
Now at the Lusail Sports activities Enviornment in Qatar, the 2 will meet for a third time – to lastly unify the strawweight class.
Pacio has made the stroll to the cage 17 instances in ONE Championship since debuting in 2016, and is a three-time strawweight champion. Each time he has suffered adversity in his profession, the 29-12 months-outdated has all the time returned stronger, and whereas he’s not coming off a loss – nearly a 12 months out of motion by harm will all the time depart some query marks.
For Brooks that is a day of redemption, for a title misplaced on a technicality, and the chance for him to reclaim what he believes to be rightfully his.
A conflict of kinds, and a conflict of personalities – that is the blockbuster foremost occasion the Qatar followers have been ready for.
You may watch ONE 171: Qatar, which takes place on Thursday February twentieth at 5pm Mecca at the Lusail Sports activities Enviornment in Qatar. For ticket data, click on right here. Alternatively, you possibly can watch the occasion reside on BeIn Sports activities or at watch.onefc.com.
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