ONE Fight Night is set to host a thrilling event as fans anticipate the clash between Jarred Brooks and Gustavo Balart. The battle is set for US Primetime and will occur on August 2 at the Lumpine Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
The main event of the night was initially supposed to be titleholder Joshua Pacio’s defence against Brooks. However, he tore an ACL and had to withdraw, leaving Brooks to battle Balart for the interim strawweight MMA World championship.
Brooks has shown considerable respect for his opponent but he feels the feel hasn’t been mutual. After ‘El Gladiadoer’ took to social media to taunt Brooks, the fighter decided to teach him a lesson.
“Gustavo disrespected me on so many levels. Dude, I called this guy a boss baby. Then he puts his face on my body and says that he’s the real champion. Okay, that’s very disrespectful,” Brook said.
“Whatever you’re trying to be, ‘Monkey God 2.0.’ No, bro. You’re not even close. You’re 37 years old. And you’re an Olympian. You did what you did. But MMA is my game. I played wrestling when I was in college. And now I just go with that punch-kick style. You’re going to get everything.”
“Balart’s elite wrestling credentials and forward-wading style pose a significant challenge. But Brooks feels more than capable of dealing with it. He’s very beatable. You could catch him with a kick to the body or kick to the head. I think the kicks are going to be a big factor in this fight.
“And even in the wrestling exchanges, this is a five-round fight. I don’t think he’s going to have the cardio to really hang with me.”
Brooks had intentions of regaining the championship after losing to Pacio by disqualification, but he’ll have to settle for Balart. ‘The Monkey God plans on making an epic comeback and will leverage every weapon in his arsenal to bring Balart to heel.
“He is a smaller guy. He’s not somebody that I’m used to fighting, so stylistically, you’re going to see a different portion of me,” Brooks said.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m going to bring out the wrestling and everything like that, but just because Gustavo is 4-foot-11, it doesn’t mean that guy isn’t a G. He’s a boss baby. He looks like a baby, but he’ll beat that a**.”
