'Humbled' Jarred Brooks says Qatar DQ has lit a fire in his belly ahead of return: "It just makes me even hungrier"

Top-ranked strawweight MMA contender Jarred Brooks described his disqualification loss at ONE 166: Qatar as a valuable learning experience.

The Mash Fight Team athlete put his ONE strawweight MMA world title on the line against Joshua Pacio inside the Lusail Sports Arena this past March, and while he looked all set to continue his reign, an unintentional spike early in the contest threw a spanner in the works.

Despite conceding that it was one of the toughest moments for him to digest in the immediate aftermath, 'The Monkey God' sees solace in the unfortunate incident that saw him surrender his 26 pounds of gold to the Lions Nation MMA warrior.

Brooks revisited the incident during a recent chat with ONE Championship, describing it as a much-needed lesson and one that has lit a fire in his belly ahead of his return.

The 31-year-old said:

"It just makes me even hungrier. God puts these tests in front of me, and I have to knock them down. I'm humbled by the experience."

Should he bring that said hunger for success into his next assignment, the Indiana native could well be on his way to securing a trilogy bout against 'The Passion' soon.

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Jarred Brooks targets Joshua Pacio trilogy with win over Gustavo Balart at ONE Fight Night 24

In less than three weeks, Jarred Brooks gets his chance to put his painful defeat to Joshua Pacio in the past when he steps inside the Circle to contest for the ONE interim strawweight MMA world title against Gustavo Balart.

While he doesn't overlook the threat that 'El Gladiador' brings to the table at ONE Fight Night 24 on Aug. 2, the American fighter does have one eye on a unification fight against the Filipino.

Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda MMA, he added:

"Give me my belt back. I want it now. I'm sorry you had ACL surgery, bro. I wish you nothing but the best and hope that you come back even stronger, but man, I really miss the smell of that gold."

"Get better by November, and we can run that back, easy. And whoever I'm fighting next, good luck, bro."

ONE Fight Night 24 will be available to active Amazon Prime Video subscribers in North America.