ONE strawweight MMA champion Joshua Pacio will be looking on intently when former divisional king Jarred Brooks and No. 3-ranked contender Gustavo Balart vie for the interim crown this weekend.
The divisional standouts meet in the main event of ONE Fight Night 24 this Saturday, August 3, inside Bangkok, Thailand’s Lumpinee Stadium.
The interim strap was introduced because Pacio is currently recovering from an injury, and Brooks and Balart were chosen to contest it as they are undoubtedly the two biggest stars in the weight bracket right now.
“The Passion” is excited to see who will book a unification bout with him when he returns to action. But as far as who he thinks it will be, the Filipino powerhouse is at a loss.
“As a fan of the sport, this is a fascinating matchup. You have two elite wrestlers with distinct styles that have proven successful in their careers,” he examined.
“This fight raises many questions given their backgrounds. It’s truly mind-boggling. May the best man win.”
Pacio and Brooks have been heated rivals at the top of the strawweight MMA division since 2022.
“The Monkey God” stomped through the division and claimed the World Title when they first clashed in December of that year. However, when they came to rematch at ONE 166 this past March, things took an unforeseen turn.
Brooks dumped Pacio on his head just 56 seconds into the highly anticipated affair, resulting in the American getting disqualified and “The Passion” retaking the strawweight MMA belt.
After that anticlimactic end, Pacio wants to settle the score with Brooks in a trilogy tilt. That said, if Balart prevails this weekend, he’ll have no qualms about fighting the fierce Cuban contender.
“I can see where this is heading, so I’ll be straightforward,” Pacio said.
“I have unfinished business with Jarred Brooks, and I intend to settle it in the future. If Gustavo Balart rises to the occasion, he’s more than welcome.”
Sitting on the sidelines isn’t something that sits well with Pacio. Across his reigns as the strawweight MMA king, he has consistently been a fighting champion.
Watching on as Brooks and Balart decide his next opponent only makes the itch to return that much stronger for him, but he accepts that bringing in an interim crown was the right move to make.
“You know how much I want to be back in there competing, but my physical condition prevents me from doing so. It is what it is. The division needs to move forward and determine the next challenger, or in this case, the next interim champion,” Pacio said.
“What I love about our division is that there’s never a shortage of real World Title contenders. This will be evident in the upcoming matchup between Jarred Brooks and Gustavo Balart, where the top contender faces the next in line.”
