WATCH: Cuban wrestling machine Gustavo Balart's difficult path to interim world title contention

The journey to becoming a world champion can take many turns along the way. ONE strawweight MMA star Gustavo Balart has had his fair share of struggles after starting his ONE career on a three-fight losing streak.

However, the 4-foot-11 Cuban wrestler was not willing to let go of his dreams of fighting for ONE Championship gold, which pushed him to a strong unanimous decision victory over Ryuto Sawada in his fourth outing.

'El Gladiador' would soon add former ONE strawweight MMA world champions Yosuke Saruta and Alex Silva to his list of victims and capped it off with a split decision victory over Hiroba Minowa to make it four-straight wins.

Check out the entirety of Balart's winning streak below as posted by ONE on YouTube:

Now the third-ranked fighter in the strawweight MMA division, Balart is closer than ever to his goal of winning 26 pounds of ONE Championship gold.

He will get that opportunity on August 2 inside Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, as he fights the top-ranked Jarred Brooks for the ONE interim strawweight MMA world championship at ONE Fight Night 24.

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Gustavo Balart oozing with confidence ahead of ONE Fight Night 24

Facing the former ONE strawweight MMA world champion in Brooks is certainly going to be a tough ask, but Balart is never one to back down from a challenge - especially with such high stakes on the line.

Speaking with ONE Championship, Balart stated:

"All I know is that on August 2, ONE Championship will have a new king in the 125-pound division. His name is Gustavo Balart Marin."

ONE Fight Night 24 will air live and free to all Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.

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