“I showed a huge statement tonight” - Jarred Brooks explains why win over Gustavo Balart was one for the books
Jarred Brooks scored a statement victory at ONE Fight Night 24.
Returning to the legendary Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, 'The Monkey God' delivered another dominant performance on martial arts' biggest global stage. Stepping into the main event spotlight for an interim ONE strawweight MMA world title fight against Gustavo Balart, Brooks did what few men have been able to do—make 'El Gladiador' tap out.
After putting away Balart in the opening round, Brooks shared his excitement over being able to take down and submit the former Olympian.
"I mean he has had a tough job finishing other people but, you know, I'm just really happy to get a finish against [him], especially in Jiu-Jitsu and I took down a Greco Olympian three times and at his own thing, you know."
He added:
"It wasn’t…one was a regular takedown, but the other two, those were Greco takedowns, and it's hard to get under Gustavo’s neck so I think by doing that, I showed a huge statement tonight."
Jarred Brooks ready to settle things with Joshua Pacio in an anticipated unification clash
With his win over Gustavo Balart, Jarred Brooks has guaranteed himself a trilogy fight with current undisputed strawweight MMA world titleholder Joshua Pacio.
Brooks and Pacio have been on two separate occasions, the first coming at ONE 164 in Manilla. There, 'The Monkey God' delivered a dominant five-round performance to take home his first ONE world title.
Unfortunately, Brooks' reign came to a crashing halt this past March in Qatar. Running it back with Pacio at ONE 166, 'The Monkey God' was disqualified in the opening minute after inadvertently spiking Pacio onto the top of his head during a takedown attempt.
At the moment, Joshua Pacio is recovering from a torn ACL. Once healed up and ready to go, he'll have a determined Jarred Brooks ready to trade in his temporary title for undisputed gold.
If you missed any of the action, ONE Championship fans in the United States and Canada can watch the ONE Fight Night 24 replay on demand via Amazon Prime Video.