“Every venue will have Filipinos” – Joshua Pacio expects ‘hometown advantage’ in Jarred Brooks rematch in Qatar

Former ONE strawweight MMA world champion Joshua Pacio will get a shot at redemption against the man who took his belt last year, Jarred Brooks.

This high-profile rematch for the belt will happen at ONE 166: Qatar on March 1. The bout will be one of five massive world title matches featured on the card of ONE Championship's inaugural event in the Middle East.

Joshua Pacio, who is native to the mountainous regions of the Philipines, believes that a legion of his countrymen will show up to support him in Qatar. A large part of the GDP of the Philippines is the overseas workers whom they export to the Middle East. This is the reason why 'The Passion' knows he will have a huge Filipino contingent shouting his name come fight night.

He told The MMA Superfan on YouTube:

“Wherever you go, there will be Filipinos. I also expect that in Qatar, we have a ton of countrymen there. And I see next year (2024) they will focus on mixed martial arts. There will be so many happy Filipinos there because, as I said before, every venue will have Filipinos who will watch.”

Watch the full interview here:

---

Joshua Pacio willing to give Jarred Brooks a rubber match should he win at ONE 166

One interesting part of Joshua Pacio's interview was what he plans to do if and when he wins back his belt at ONE 165. 'The Passion' admitted that if he regains the ONE strawweight MMA throne, he'll be more than willing to give 'The Monkey God' a rubber match.

He told The MMA Superfan on YouTube:

“If I win, I’m willing to give a rubber match, because after our last fight we talked backstage. We said ‘Let’s do this first match, then a rematch, then a third match.' That’s what we talked about.”

ONE 166: Qatar will air live on March 1 via global pay-per-view on watch.onefc.com.