Former ONE Strawweight MMA World Champion Jarred Brooks claimed the interim divisional crown via a first-round submission victory over #3-ranked contender Gustavo Balart this past weekend at ONE Fight Night 24.
“The Monkey God” squared off with the Cuban wrestler in the main event of the Saturday, 3rd August, show inside Bangkok, Thailand’s Lumpinee Stadium, and he reminded the world how dominant he can be with a convincing win.
The question of what comes next for the American star now looms, so let’s take a look at a couple of avenues he could take.
Joshua Pacio
Brooks’ main goal is likely to be unifying the ONE Strawweight MMA World Titles, and that means a trilogy bout with reigning king Joshua “The Passion” Pacio.
The pair have already tussled twice. Their first clash came at ONE 164 in December 2022 and saw “The Monkey God” taking the undisputed divisional crown from Pacio after five grueling rounds.
They rematched this past March at ONE 166: Qatar, and the result was somewhat anticlimactic. Brooks was disqualified just 56 seconds into the much-anticipated affair after he dropped “The Passion” on his head. As a result, Pacio reclaimed the crown.
With the scores technically tied at one win apiece, one final outing makes plenty of sense. However, shortly after winning the belt back, Pacio tore his ACL and is on the sideline for the foreseeable future with no return window known.
But Brooks’ dominance will take some doing to overthrow, so a third and final clash against Pacio has a sense of inevitability surrounding it.
Demetrious Johnson
Another name high on the new interim strawweight MMA king’s list is ONE Flyweight MMA World Champion Demetrious Johnson.
Brooks has taken every opportunity possible to get the MMA GOAT’s attention during his time in ONE Championship, but nothing has come of his attempts so far.
Johnson hasn’t been seen inside the Circle since he defended his crown against longtime rival Adriano Moraes at ONE Championship’s debut show in the U.S. – ONE Fight Night 10 – in May 2023.
The 37-year-old has hinted that he is in the final stage of his MMA career, and it seems he’s only looking to take on opponents that excite him.
Brooks’ skill set, slate, and attitude certainly fit that criteria, so a fight between the American champions would certainly make sense, especially if it were to go down on home soil.
Keito Yamakita
If neither Pacio nor Johnson are ready to take on Brooks in time, the American may decide to turn around and take out any contender to his dominance.
If that were to his move, a good place to start would be surging Japanese star Keito Yamakita.
The 28-year-old has been on a roll as of late, having competed three times this year already. After a narrow loss to Bokang Masunyane this past January at ONE 165, he found form and secured a submission win over divisional veteran Jeremy Miado at ONE 166 in March.
Yamakita then doubled his stock with a split-decision victory over former strawweight MMA king Yosuke Saruta this past weekend at ONE Fight Night 24 to prove he’s ready for the next level.
As it stands, Brooks is the gold standard in ONE’s strawweight MMA division. But should he decide Yamakita is worthy of his time, he could remove another threat while he awaits Pacio’s return.
