"They're playing to his strengths" - Jarred Brooks says Gustavo Balart's past opponents have often fallen prey to his style
Jarred Brooks doesn't see himself picking any bait that Gustavo Balart will throw his way when they go at each other inside the Lumpinee Stadium this Friday, August 2.
The top-ranked contender and former kingpin meets the Cuban veteran to determine the owner of the ONE interim strawweight MMA world championship that will be at stake in the main event of ONE Fight Night 24.
Having done his homework and watched Balart chalk up a four-fight winning streak, 'The Monkey God' maintains that he's been unimpressed by what he's seen. To him, the 4-foot-11 fighter hasn't faced an opponent who has been able to implement their tactics in the right way.
Speaking to ONE Championship ahead of their five-round scrap in Bangkok, Thailand, Jarred Brooks said:
"He kicks and tries to swing for the fences until he can reach your chin. He's tough in that aspect, but a thing that I do not see out of him is he overextends, and a lot of the people that he fights just don't see that."
The 31-year-old fighting out of Mash Fight Team continued:
"I guess they're playing to his strengths. Maybe he sucks them in that way, I don't know. We'll see when the time comes."
Jarred Brooks vows to leave it all on the line at ONE Fight Night 24
With an eye on a Joshua Pacio trilogy and a burning desire to halt his two-match skid, Jarred Brooks has gone into overtime to ensure he brings his best package yet at ONE Fight Night 24.
Moreover, the 31-year-old believes his familarity with Balart's training partners at American Top Team will only play into his advantages inside the 'Mecca of Muay Thai' this week.
In the same interview with the promotion, he added:
"I'm going to showcase it all. He's been working on a lot of boxing in this camp, and he's probably done a little bit of Muay Thai, and I know all the boys that he works with.
"I've been to little Cuba where Alex Caceres and all those boys trained. I'm familar with their training camps, so I'm not opposed to working on what he's working to defeat him."
North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription can catch Brooks vs. Balart and the entire ONE Fight Night 24 card live in U.S. primetime for free.