ONE Championship: New strawweight champion Joshua Pacio’s expected rematch with Jarred Brooks off after ACL injury

Filipino recently won the belt off the American but is now unlikely to be able to defend it until 2025

He reportedly suffered a knee injury while preparing for their title fight at ONE 166, when Brooks was disqualified

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Joshua Pacio has damaged his ACL and will be out until next year. Photo: ONE Championship

Published: 1:52pm, 25 Apr 2024Updated: 1:54pm, 25 Apr 2024

Newly crowned ONE Championship strawweight champion Joshua Pacio has torn his ACL and is set for surgery next month, according to reports in the Philippines.

The Filipino recently won the belt for the third time but it is now unlikely he will be able to defend it until 2025.

Pacio reportedly suffered a knee injury while preparing for his title fight with Jarred Brooks at ONE 166. He won that in unusual style, as the American slammed him on his head and was disqualified.

There was some concern that Pacio might have suffered a serious neck injury as a result of this impact and the champion was diagnosed with a neck strain, which would normally keep a fighter out of action for a matter of weeks rather than months.

However, while getting his neck injury checked up, Pacio discovered that the damage to his knee was far worse than initially suspected.

Brooks punches Pacio during their first strawweight title fight in 2022. Photo: ONE Championship

On Wednesday, he acknowledged he was facing an extended spell on the sidelines, and in a post on Instagram wrote: “By God’s Grace I’ll be Back!”