Jeremy Miado Confident In Former ONE Strawweight Champ's Bounce Back Campaign

Jarred Brooks surprised the mixed martial arts (MMA) community around the world when he practically dominated Joshua Pacio to earn his first-ever championship victory by taking home the ONE strawweight title via unanimous decision at ONE 164.

But for fellow Filipino Jeremy Miado, the loss is only setting up Pacio to rise from the ashes and position himself for a rematch.

International Business Times sports editor and combat sports analyst Nissi Icasiano had recently spoken with Miado and "The Jaguar" had nothing but nice words for the former ONE strawweight king.

"We've seen him for a long time in ONE Championship. He lost then bounced back against [Yoshitaka] Naito and did the same with Yosuke Saruta. In other words, he always finds a way to get even better. Joshua's fight IQ is so high that when he fights in a rematch, he's completely different from the first meeting," Miado told Icasiano.

"He just gets better when he loses. I think we've all seen that since he's more motivated."

Pacio was on the receiving end of an improved Brooks who had worked his way to developing a striking game to complement his already formidable wrestling skills, beating "The Passion" to the punch multiple times and landing some heavy strikes on the ground.

Few expected Brooks to outstrike Pacio as the former champion made a name for himself as one of the most explosive strawweights in that department.

However, fewer still would have thought of the Team Lakay product being able to defend Brooks' takedowns and Miado admitted as such.

"He showed great takedown defense, it was very strong to the point that even Jarred Brooks had to admit that he had a hard time taking him down. I was very surprised by it too, honestly. His strikes weren't like before though, like there was something wrong with his reflexes and speed," Miado mentioned.

In Miado's eyes, Pacio having a long layoff did not affect his performance since he is well-known for keeping up with his training whether he has a fight or not.

It was just a situation of Brooks having the better gameplan, according to the Filipino from Albay, Bicol.

The hopeful strawweight contender assessed that both Brooks and Pacio had done their homework leading up to the fight and it all came down to who could execute better.

Miado initially thought that Brooks would gas himself out early similar to the American's duel versus Lito Adiwang—something that did happen in the Pacio matchup—but his boxing appeared to have surprised the former strawweight king.

"He (Brooks) mixed up his footwork and his boxing skills so well to the point that when Joshua tried to counter, he was too late. I think that's why he failed to land any hard strikes against Brooks," a pensive Miado reflected on the bout's outcome.

Miado did have a lot of nice things to say about Brooks as a fighter, but he was quick to admit that he wants to have a crack at "The Monkey God" before mentioning that the American's reign may be short-lived since the division will be gunning for him with more fervor due to the ONE strawweight title.

With a new champion reigning over the weight class, and a non-Filipino at that, Miado is confident about his chances of pulling off an upset against Brooks should he be given the chance.

After all, Miado casually pointed out to Icasiano that his height and reach advantage combined with his vastly-improved wrestling game and striking would give "The Monkey God" fits.

ONE Championship fans will be eagerly watching how the strawweight division pans out, who Brooks' first title defense will be against, and if Miado will finally enter the divisional rankings to be a step closer to his dream title shot.