Jarred Brooks lost the ONE strawweight MMA title in heartbreaking fashion when he was disqualified in his rematch with Joshua Pacio at ONE 166: Qatar in March.
However, on Friday, Aug. 2, he will have a chance to regain it – at least in the interim.
Brooks will meet Cuban wrestling machine Gustavo Balart in a ONE interim strawweight MMA championship in the main event of ONE Fight Night 24, and everything would suggest it’s set to be a barnburner.
“The Monkey God” has been extremely dominant since arriving in ONE Championship in 2021. After running through the division’s top contenders, he dethroned Pacio by unanimous decision in late 2022 to claim the undisputed world title.
He also looked immense in the early going of their rematch At ONE 166 until he dropped his Filipino foe with an illegal slam that led to his disqualification less than a minute into the fight.
In order to set up a trilogy match with Pacio and secure a chance at unifying the belts, Brooks must first turn away the surging challenge of Balart.
Prior to the pandemic, Balart was on a three-match losing skid and was struggling to find success in the world’s largest martial arts organization. However, it quickly became clear that he used his time away to revamp his all-around attack.
The Cuban star has picked up four consecutive victories on the global stage since 2021, including wins over former champions Yosuke Saruta and Alex Silva.
ONE Fight Night 24 will be his chance to claim ONE gold for the first time, and he has the ability to stifle Brooks’ dynamic grappling attacks, given his Olympic-level wrestling skill.
The strategic element to their matchup only adds more intrigue to the strawweight title showdown, and fans can bet it’s going to light up Lumpinee Boxing Stadium on Friday, August 2.
ONE Fight Night 24 airs live and free to all Amazon Prime subscribers in the U.S. and Canada at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.