Three fights have been confirmed for ONE 166 and one of them will have a title on the line. The event is set for Qatar on March 1st and will feature a rematch between reigning strawweight champion Jarred Brooks and former champion Joshua Pacio.
Brooks (20-2-0-1) won the belt by beating Pacio at ONE 164 in Manila last year. He has yet to defend the belt and was last seen getting submitted by Mikey Musumeci in a flyweight bout fought under submission grappling rules.
By contrast Pacio (21-4) has been active in MMA. He is coming off a decision win over previously undefeated Russian Mansur Malachiev at ONE Fight Night 10.
Jarred Brooks takes the back! ๐คผโโ๏ธ @The_monkeygod#ONE164
๐บ๐ธ๐จ๐ฆ๐น๐ญ๐ฌ๐ง๐ธ๐ฆ๐ง๐ท Live on ONE YouTubeโ
๐ Live on https://t.co/eBUfsODAFL pic.twitter.com/Lb9jhWHjhxโ ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) December 3, 2022
Heavyweight contenders
Amir Aliakbari (13-3) has been matched with Arjan Bhullar (11-2) in a heavyweight fight between two former Anatoly Malykhin victims. Both men lost to the Russian who is the reigning heavyweight champion.
Bhullar is a former heavyweight champion but has not won a fight since beating Brandon Vera at ONE: โDangalโ. Aliakbari has managed to win three in a row since his loss to Malykhin.
Amir Aliakbari ๐ฎ๐ท picks up the biggest win of his career with a TKO finish over former ONE Heavyweight World Champion Brandon Vera!#ONE164
๐บ๐ธ๐จ๐ฆ๐น๐ญ๐ฌ๐ง๐ธ๐ฆ๐ง๐ท Live on ONE YouTubeโ
๐ Live on https://t.co/eBUfsODAFL pic.twitter.com/4ODlyBpoiGโ ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) December 3, 2022
Submission grappling
The other fight on the card will be contested under submission grappling rules. Osamah Almarwai faces Cleber Sousa in a flyweight fight with the latter sure to get good support from the Qatar crowd.
Almarwai hails from Yemen and is coming off a submission loss at the hands of Mikey Musumeci at ONE Fight Night 10 in May. Sousa is also coming off a defeat to the American although he did manage to go the distance.
ONE 166, Qatar, March 1st
Jarred Brooks (c) vs. Joshua Pacio (for Strawweight title)
Amir Aliakbari vs. Arjan Bhullar (Heavyweight)
Submission Grappling: Osamah Almarwai vs. Cleber Sousa (Flyweight)
ย