Despite having already held the ONE strawweight MMA title and the division’s interim crown this past weekend at ONE Fight Night 24, Jarred Brooks still feels like his talents are underrated.
“The Monkey God” defeated No. 3-ranked Gustavo Balart at ONE Fight Night 24 for the ONE interim strawweight MMA title this past Saturday, inside Bangkok, Thailand’s Lumpinee Stadium.
He submitted Balart in the evening’s main event with a first-round rear-naked choke to cement himself as the weight bracket’s interim king. Brooks’ wrestling prowess is already amongst the best in the world, but managing to submit a well-versed grappler like Balart was a huge feather in his cap.
“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,” Brooks 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.”
Brooks has competed six times in ONE Championship and compiled a record of 5-1. The only mark against him came this past March, when he was disqualified for dropping Joshua Pacio on his head in their world title rematch at ONE 166.
The American has now beaten a slew of standout names in the division, including Balart, Pacio to claim the divisional crown in December 2022, and Bokang Masunyane at ONE 156 in April 2022.
Despite his dominance, Brooks is convinced people still overlook him.
He’s not sure why, but it doesn’t really matter to him overall, as he has confidence in his ability to take out anyone in ONE’s strawweight division.
“I think everybody’s just going to keep on sleeping on me until I put them to sleep,” Brooks said.
“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.
“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.”
