“Focus on not being blinded” - Lito Adiwang analyzes how Gustavo Balart should play his game against Jarred Brooks

Filipino strawweight Lito Adiwang sees Gustavo Balart having his work cut out for him against Jarred Brooks in their title clash next week and believes he must be thorough with his game plan lest he find himself on the raw end of things.

'Thunder Kid' made this known in an interview with Sportskeeda MMA, when asked how he views 'El Gladiador's' chances against 'The Monkey God' in their showdown for the interim strawwewight championship belt at ONE Fight Night 24 on Prime Video on Aug. 2 in Bangkok, Thailand.

The SOMA Fight Club affiliate highlighted that Gustavo Balart has to dig deep against Brooks, who can get the job done in a number of ways, saying:

"Number one, once the fight starts, focus on not being blinded by Brooks' striking because he will try to catch you off-guard and throw you off your rhythm. He'll throw some strikes, then quickly shoot for a takedown. He has to try not being controlled by Brooks' striking."

He added:

"Then, once they clinch, because that's one area where I see Brooks taking all the advantage. He can get a better position off the clinch, and he can secure the win from there. Balart has to be aware of that once they start clinching, try to scramble more, and get a good position, stabilize your position, then he can rest a bit."

Gustavo Balart packing a lot of momentum heading into ONE Fight Night 24

Gustavo Balart goes into his showdown against Jarred Brooks at ONE Fight Night 24 on Prime Video on Aug. 2 with a lot momentum after winning his last four fights and fortifying his standing as a contender in the strawweight MMA division.

The 37-year-old Cuban standout has turned things around in his ONE Championship journey after opening his campaign with his three straight defeats.

Balart started his turnaround in July 2021 where he won by unanimous decision over Japanese Ryuto Sawada. He then followed it up with back-to-back decision victories in April and October 2022 against Yosuke Saruta of Japan and Alex Silva of Brazil, respectively.

His latest triumph came last January over Japanese Hiroba Minowa by split decision, catapulting him to the No. 3 contender spot in the strawweight division.

Gustavo Balart wants to make it a fifth straight victory to remember by defeating Brooks and claiming the interim ONE strawweight MMA championship belt at ONE Fight Night 24.

The Brooks-Balart title clash will be the headlining match at ONE Fight Night 24, which will be available live and for free on U.S. primetime to North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.