Brash American title challenger continues to taunt ONE Championship strawweight world champion Joshua Pacio, whom he challenged to better take the world title bout anytime soon.
“It’s going to be sooner than later if Joshua takes it,” the Michigan-based competitor said before adding: “Joshua, you better take it.”
Since joining Asia’s premier media sports promotion, the 28-year-old Brooks from Mash Fight Team has been calling out Pacio of the famed Team Lakay after every fight he has had inside the circle.
Brooks finally got his wish to fight Pacio for the world title after defeating Bokang Masunyane at ONE 156 on April 22. ONE will announce the title fight schedule soon.
The former Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter made his first three fights in ONE Championship look easy by defeating Lito Adiwang via a second-round submission and dominating Hiroba Minowa to score a unanimous decision victory.
Masunyane should have offered a stiffer challenge, given that he was the top-ranked strawweight contender. But Brooks ensured that his rear-naked choke would stick. The South African tried to escape but tapped out at the 4:39 mark of round one.
The 25-year-old Pacio paid close attention to the contest that determined his next opponent. And, in Team Lakay fashion, he congratulated Brooks on his latest accomplishment. But ever the showman, Brooks found a way to take another verbal jab at the world champion.
“I just watched his Instagram story congratulating me, and he’s a classy guy. But I got to get that guy some more money with the TV that he has. I’ll buy him a new TV,” he said.
Brook claimed the future ONE world title bout will be a stroll in the park. While he sees Adiwang as the more explosive fighter, he does point out that Pacio is a technically savvy warrior who is patient in setting up his strategy. Despite their differences, Brooks sees no problem dethroning the Filipino champion.
“I think it would go the same way as Lito, that I would choke him out in the first or second round. I think I’m getting better in almost every fight, and I think I could make him have trouble on the feet and the ground,” Brooks said. – Harley F. Palangchao
