Joshua Pacio has reclaimed the ONE Strawweight MMA World Championship, by way of disqualification, in his rematch against Jarred Brooks at ONE 166: Qatar on Friday at Lusail Sports Arena.
The no. 1-ranked contender out of Lions Nation MMA was illegally slammed on his head by the champion, which led to referee Herb Dean pulling out the red card.
Brooks initially thought that he had won the match after Dean waved the fight off following the takedown.
The brash American then followed up with head strikes 56 seconds into the rematch.
But the official was quick to note the infraction, with Brooks being guilty of spiking Pacio’s head to the mat – a clear violation of the global MMA rules.
Pacio was awarded the victory, but medics were quick to take him to a local medical facility.
Updates coming from Qatar stated that the proud Filipino striker was conscious.
Meanwhile, Jeremy Miado also suffered a debilitating first-round submission defeat to Keito Yamakita earlier in the night.
