Jarred Brooks bummed to miss out on interesting dream showdown: “I wish I could have seen John Lineker vs Liam Harrison”

ONE interim strawweight MMA world champion Jarred Brooks said it was unfortunate that the showdown between veteran fighters John Lineker and Liam Harrison earlier this year did not push through. He believes it would have been an engaging showdown between two warriors from differing disciplines.

MMA fighter Lineker was supposed to face off with Muay Thai legend Harrison on Jan. 12 at ONE Fight Night 18 on Prime Video in a bantamweight Muay Thai clash. The latter, however, pulled out of the scheduled contest as he was not fully healed from a knee injury.

In an interview with BODYSLAM.NET Pro Wrestling, Jarred Brooks briefly touched on the botched dream fight between Lineker and Harrison and the opportunities available in ONE Championship.

'The Monkey God' said:

"I wish I could have seen John Lineker vs Liam Harrison. That would be amazing. But yeah, it's cool to be part of a promotion that could split it up discipline-wise, yet be a mixed martial arts promotion."

Check out what he had to say below:

Both Lineker and Harrison saw action at ONE 168 at the Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado, U.S.A., on Sept. 6 against separate opponents. 'Hands of Stone' finally made his Muay Thai debut in ONE and was a winner by KO over American Asa Ten Pow, while 'Hitman' fell by TKO in his comeback fight after two years to fellow Muay Thai legend Seksan Or Kwanmuang.

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Jarred Brooks keen on a unification fight with strawweight king Joshua Pacio

After capturing the ONE interim strawweight MMA world title last month, Jarred Brooks said he is counting the days until he gets back at Filipino rival and reigning divisional king Joshua Pacio in a unification fight.

The American fighter made this known following his victory over Cuban Gustavo Balart at ONE Fight Night 24 on Prime Video on Aug. 2 for the interim belt, highlighting that while he was happy with the win, unifying the belts trumps it.

Jarred Brooks said during the post-fight interview session:

"It means a lot, but it's gonna feel way better when I get to go against Joshua Pacio and unify that world championship and take that away from him twice in Manila."

Jarred Brooks took the strawweight gold from Pacio in December 2022 in Manila. They had a rematch in Qatar back in March, but the American champion lost the belt by way of disqualification after executing an illegal slam in the opening round that earned him an automatic red card and forced him to give the championship belt to 'The Passion.'