Jarred Brooks names the one athlete that has impressed him the most this year: "He deserves to fight for a title soon"

When looking at who deserves the spotlight for their accomplishments this year in ONE Championship, Jarred Brooks chose to pick out a name that wouldn't necessarily be at the top of that list for many.

The ONE interim strawweight world champion has been competing at the highest level for a long time so knows an impressive victory when he sees one. When asked to name drop an athlete that deserves recognition, he singled out veteran flyweight contender Reece McLaren.

Earlier this year at ONE Fight Night 22, he came out on top in a very close fight with China's Hu Yong. McLaren has long been considered one of the top contenders in his weight class, but that result really helped to put him back in the mix at flyweight.

Brooks told Sportskeeda MMA in an exclusive interview that based off the danger that his previous opponent brought to the table, this puts "Lightning" within range of a shot at the gold:

"I would say Reece McLaren. He beat Hu Yong, took early onset damage and came back and controlled the right, against the Asian Figueiredo. He deserves to fight for a title soon."

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Jarred Brooks has had a year of ups and downs

2024 has been a rollercoaster year for Jarred Brooks thus far but he has worked hard to end it on a high.

At ONE 166 in March, 'The Monkey God' lost his strawweight title via disqualification in his rematch with Joshua Pacio. Brooks returned at ONE Fight Night 24 in August with a point to prove and he certainly made a statement at Lumpinee Stadium.

He submitted Gustavo Balart in the opening round to win the interim title and set up a huge trilogy fight with Pacio once the champion has recovered from his significant injuries.

Brooks is still out to prove that he's the best in his weight class bar none.