“Never have I tried to illegally do anything” - Jarred Brooks opens up on hard DQ loss to Joshua Pacio
Jarred Brooks had reached the apex of mixed martial arts world, but he experienced a massive blow when he lost his ONE strawweight MMA world title after an unexpected outcome.
His title defense fight ended early when Brooks unintentionally spiked Joshua Pacio's head, resulting in a disqualification.
'The Monkey God' stated that he had never done anything illegally, nor intending to do that at any time in his career. Although he accepted his fate at the time, the American superstar opened up on how he felt about the duel.
He told FightWave in a recent interview:
"So, I would never purposely… I had countless mixed martial arts fights, and never have I tried to illegally do anything. I did grab Feguero’s shorts one time, but that’s the only thing I’ve done illegally besides that."
Now, he gets a second chance to reclaim his place at the top of the strawweight division, with an interim title match approaching against Cuban contender Gustavo Balart at ONE Fight Night 24 on August 2.
Gustavo Balart driven by desire to honor his family
For Gustavo Balart, fighting at the highest lever of martial arts does not only come down to who's the most skilled fighters, but also on who wants it more.
'El Gladiador' wants to bring honor to his family, and for him, all of his sacrifice to achieve this has always been worth the effort.
Knowing that, there is nothing better for Balart than to claim the interim strawweight MMA world title by defeating a former kingpin Jarred Brooks in their main event showdown at ONE Fight Night 24 on August 2.
He told ONE Championship:
"I have been here in the U.S. without my family for eight years. I came here in 2016. It has been a huge sacrifice for me. I have my family in my mind every second of the day."
Don't miss Brooks vs. Balart in the main event of ONE Championship's Amazon card, airing live and free in U.S. primetime to all Prime Video subscribers in North America.