Jarred Brooks says he and Gustavo Balart will be ready to put on a show ‘for all the short kings’ at ONE Fight Night 24
ONEJarred Brooks plans to showcase "martial arts in a lot of different aspects" in the ONE Fight Night 24 main event.
Earlier this year, Brooks suffered a significant setback when he was dethroned of the ONE strawweight MMA world title due to disqualification. 'The Monkey God' won't have to wait for an opportunity to regain ONE gold, as he will face Gustavo Balart at ONE Fight Night 24 for the interim strawweight MMA strap.
On Friday night, Brooks and Balart look to represent the best of ONE Championship's strawweight MMA class with a five-round action-packed war. During an interview with Sports Illustrated, the former ONE strawweight MMA world champion had this to say about wanting to showcase the diversity of smaller fighters:
"We’re putting this on for all the short kings. You’ll see martial arts in a lot of different aspects.”
ONE Fight Night 24 takes place inside the legendary Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. Friday's event, featuring Jarred Brooks vs. Gustavo Balart, can be seen live and for free by American and Canadian viewers with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.
Gustavo Balart isn't eligible for ONE gold in clash with Jarred Brooks
Gustavo Balart's ONE Championship tenure started with three consecutive losses. Luckily for him, he bounced back with an ongoing four-fight win streak, leading to his interim world title fight at ONE Fight Night 24. Unfortunately, Balart won't be eligible to win ONE gold due to a devastating result at the weigh-ins.
'El Gladiator' initially made weight before failing his hydration test. The Cuban strawweight later failed a second time and missed weight by over six pounds. As a result, Jarred Brooks is the only fighter able to leave Friday's event with the ONE interim strawweight MMA world title.
Balart's motivation for his main event won't be affected by the previously mentioned result. With a win against Brooks, 'El Gladiator' would still earn a matchup against ONE strawweight MMA king Joshua Pacio. Meanwhile, Brooks is focused on emerging victorious to secure a trilogy bout against Pacio.