A LOT of people doubted Joshua "The Passion" Pacio's chances of ever beating his archrival Jarred "The Monkey" God Brooks.
So what he did was prove all those doubters wrong in front of what was a raucous crowd in Doha, Qatar -- in one of the promotion's biggest shows this year.
Buoyed by a partisan Filipino crowd in the Middle East, Pacio overcame Brooks' early control and took a second-round TKO win in the main event of ONE 171: Qatar inside Lusail Sports Arena in Doha.
It was the perfect response to all of his naysayers who doubted his status as this division's king after reclaiming his belt from Brooks via a contentious disqualification in the same venue, around the same time last year.
This comes after getting totally outclassed by Brooks in their first fight in Manila back in 2022, but that match is certainly a thing of the past now, especially with how Pacio ended this contest.
READ: Pacio expects nothing but the best from Brooks in trilogy bout
"This year, a lot of people doubted me. But I tell you, never doubt the living God that I serve," Pacio proclaimed in the post-match interview as the crowd in the arena cheered on wildly.
"I just want to tell you, God blessed me with the right people. My team, Lions Nation MMA. My family, my church. Qatar, you are wonderful. The Filipino kababayans here, thank you very much."
In the first round though, it looked like Brooks was going to continue his mastery over Pacio as he got the Filipino down early and controlled him there with his smothering top game, before throwing a variety of chokes on the Lions Nation MMA standout, from a guillotine to a d'arce -- looking deep several times.
But the pride of Baguio City was as tough as he was skilled as he toughened out the American's chokeholds and slickly slithered out of those precarious positions.
In the second round, the 29-year-old completely turned the tides -- opening with a front kick to Brooks' face, before catching the wrestler's body kick and countering with a wushu trip to this time end up on top and in control of "The Monkey God."
From then on, Pacio was relentless - raining down punches from the top position tirelessly and not giving room for Brooks to manouver out and breathe.
The finish came right on the fence, as all Brooks can do was turtle up and with Pacio showing no signs of slowing down with his punches, the referee had no other choice but to stop the contest and award the Filipino the win in the 4:22 mark of the second round.
The victory was a sweet, sweet redemption for the Filipino strawweight who was the undisputed ruler of the division before this brash, trash-talking and ridiculously good American wrestler came along and made people forget on just how good this Filipino champion is.
Brooks ran through the entire weight class with ease through his wrestling and relentless pace, including in his first fight with Pacio in the Philippines.
He only lost the belt in the controversial second fight where he inadvertently slammed Pacio on his head - a move illegal to the global ruleset resulting into a disqualification.
As expected, people questioned the validity of Pacio's title reign with fans going as far as branding Brooks as the 'real champion.'
To make matters worse, Pacio also tore his ACL on that fateful night forcing him to be out for the rest of 2024.
All those things are behind him now as with the win, he's once again taken a stronghold of the division while making a case for himself as one of the best World Champions in the promotion's history.
The win was his seventh in a World Title fight, and by closing this trilogy with Brooks on top he also proved to be the promotion's undisputed 'rematch king' by going 5-0 against opponents he's previously lost to in the past.
It was a bittersweet affair for Lions Nation MMA though as Pacio's teammate in former ONE Bantamweight MMA World Champion Kevin Belingon lost a split-decision to his old rival in Bibiano Fernandes.
The two bantamweight greats still put on a show for the fans in the arena, but it was a late takedown from Fernandes which ultimately sealed the deal and got him the win.
After the win, Fernandes - the man Pacio's chasing for the most number of wins in ONE World Title fights at 11 - called it a career, fittingly ending his run against the man he built the division with.
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