Joshua Pacio says Danny Kingad’s loss to Yuya Wakamatsu "an added motivation" ahead of ONE 166 in Qatar

Joshua Pacio is set to compete in one of the three world championship contests that are on deck for ONE 166: Qatar on March 1.

The strawweight MMA world title is on the line at the Lusail Sports Arena in Qatar, where the former kingpin and top-ranked contender will run it back with reigning champion Jarred Brooks.

Before the rematch of their ONE 164 clash, a strawweight bout is set to open the card with Danny Kingad looking to bounce back by taking on Keito Yamakita.

Both men suffered losses last time out at ONE 165 in January, where two top strawweight contenders in Yuya Wakamatsu and Bokang Masunyane got the better of them.

Pacio believes that his fellow Filipino fighter, Kingad, and himself will use this as extra motivation to put on a much better performance this time around.

He spoke about the matchup during an interview with ONE Championship:

“Yes, that’s an added motivation. But for me to accept this fight, it’s already a sign that I’m really motivated to win. The real motivation is to get the rematch and bring the World Title back home.”

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Joshua Pacio will also look to use his recent performances as motivation

When you speak about looking to improve on a previous performance, the exact same source of motivation is sure to be present within Joshua Pacio.

‘The Passion’ lost his strawweight crown to Brooks back in 2022 but now that the opportunity for redemption is here, he’s confident that he’s made the necessary steps and sacrifices to produce a different result in the rematch.

He will look to even the score with Brooks at ONE’s Qatar debut in order to reclaim his spot on the strawweight throne.

ONE 166: Qatar will air live and free via Prime Video for North American viewers with an active subscription on March 1.