Newly minted ONE Interim Strawweight MMA World Champion Jarred Brooks is on a mission to sit atop the division once again, and he took the next step in achieving that goal this past weekend at ONE Fight Night 24.
“The Monkey God” defeated #3-ranked contender Gustavo Balart with a rear-naked choke in the first round of their main event this past Saturday, 3 August, inside Bangkok, Thailand’s Lumpinee Stadium to claim the throne. For Brooks, the submission was a chance to show a new level to his grappling skill set.
“Gustavo is an inside clinch guy, and he likes to hold people up against the fence and almost stall. I'm glad to show people that I could finish Gustavo Balart in spectacular fashion. The only time he's really been finished was with a head kick out of the blue,” he said.
“But at the same time, it's the first time that he's ever been submitted, and I'm glad that I could be that guy.”
Across six MMA outings in ONE Championship, Brooks has proved his worth with a record of 5-1 – the only setback being a disqualification loss in his rematch with now-reigning king Joshua Pacio this past March at ONE 166.
Despite convincingly overcoming names like Balart, Pacio, and Bokang Masunyane, Brooks feels he doesn’t get the respect he believes he deserves. But it’s not something that sets him back. Instead, he’s happy to continue showing why he’s undeniable in the strawweight bracket.
“I think everybody's just going to keep on sleeping on me until I put them to sleep. It doesn't matter. I went against Pacio and I beat Pacio on the feet. I went against a Cuban Olympian, I beat an Olympian on the ground. And I took him down twice in his own game, which is Greco-Roman. So I show people that I'm willing to take all and I'm not worried about anybody else in the division,” Brooks said.
“You can beat all these guys that are just coming up, but when you hit that top five, we'll see just how good you are.”
