Jarred Brooks To Face Gustavo Balart For Interim Strawweight MMA World Title At ONE Fight Night 24

Two of the greatest strawweight mixed martial artists on the planet are set to throw down for gold in front of a U.S. primetime audience on Friday, August 2.

Former divisional kingpin Jarred “The Monkey God” Brooks will square off against surging #3-ranked contender Gustavo “El Gladiador” Balart for the ONE Interim Strawweight MMA World Championship in the main event of ONE Fight Night 24 on Prime Video.

Reigning ONE Strawweight MMA World Champion Joshua “The Passion” Pacio has been sidelined indefinitely due to a torn ACL, so Brooks and Balart will keep the division moving at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

Brooks has been largely dominant in the strawweight MMA division since joining ONE Championship.

After finishing Filipino phenom Lito “Thunder Kid” Adiwang in his promotional debut in November 2021, the American ripped through top-ranked contenders Hiroba Minowa and Bokang “Little Giant” Masunyane to earn a crack at then-divisional kingpin Pacio.

Then in December 2022, “The Monkey God” decimated the Filipino superstar across five rounds to secure a unanimous decision victory and claim the belt.

Though Brooks took a detour to unsuccessfully challenge ONE Flyweight Submission Grappling World Champion Mikey “Darth Rigatoni” Musumeci last August, he returned to MMA for his first World Title defense against Pacio at the promotion’s inaugural show in Qatar seven months later.

Despite controlling the early going of that match, “The Monkey God” executed an illegal slam just 56 seconds into the first round, leading to his disqualification as Pacio reclaimed the belt.

With “The Passion” now out of action, Brooks has an opportunity to take back the gold and set up a World Title unification trilogy fight next year.

However, Balart will bring serious momentum into this World Title main event.

The former Olympic wrestler from Cuba is riding a four-bout winning streak, which includes heart-racing victories over former ONE Strawweight MMA World Champions Alex “Little Rock” Silva and Yosuke “The Ninja” Saruta,” along with his most recent triumph over Minowa.

Off the strength of those performances, Balart has earned this massive chance to claim a ONE MMA World Title and achieve immortality in the sport.

Stay tuned to onefc.com for more details about ONE Fight Night 24 on August 2.