Jarred Brooks says dream match against legendary Demetrious Johnson is “the money fight” in ONE Championship

Apart from unifying the championship belts in the strawweight division, newly crowned interim world champion Jarred Brooks said he is also interested in taking on MMA legend and ONE flyweight king Demetrious Johnson in a marquee showdown.

He made this known after he was defeated in the opening round by Cuban Gustavo Balart by submission (rear-naked choke) in their headlining contest at ONE Fight Night 24 on Prime Video on Aug. 2 in Thailand.

Brooks brought up the idea of a showdown with 'Mighty Mouse,' highlighting it is something that fans will love seeing, saying:

"I'm 31 years old. This is just the start. I'm coming in and, as I said, I'm looking for GOAT meat and I think that Demetrious Johnson, if he wants to fight me, I know it's completely up to him and completely up to [ONE Chairman and CEO] Chatri [Sityodtong] and ONE Championship. But I feel like that's the money fight, and that's the way to go."

The victory at ONE Fight Night 24 was a bounce-back win for Brooks after he lost the ONE strawweight MMA world title back in March to Filipino rival Joshua Pacio by disqualification. He was disqualified for executing an illegal slam that saw his opponent hit the canvas head-first in the opening round.

Now the interim strawweight champion, Brooks hopes to secure a unification bout against Pacio once the latter is back and healthy from an ACL injury he suffered.

Meanwhile, Johnson was last in ONE action in May last year, successfully defending the flyweight gold against Brazilian rival Adriano Moraes in their trilogy title fight in the United States. He, however, has been shoring up his BJJ skills of late, actively competing in various tournaments outside of ONE Championship.

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Jarred Brooks looking forward to run it back with Joshua Pacio in unification match

While Jarred Brooks is open to exploring other opportunities under ONE Championship, he said securing a unification match against reigning strawweight king Joshua Pacio remains a top priority.

'The Monkey God' was adamant about this even before he claimed the interim strawweight belt at ONE Fight Night 24 on Prime Video on Aug. 2 with a first-round submission win over Gustavo Balart.

Brooks shared with Sportskeeda MMA in the lead-up to the Balart clash:

"I have the utmost respect for him (Pacio) as a champion, as a fighter and as a Christian. But we're gonna have to run it back sometime. He's the champ and he can't bit sitting on that belt for a certain amount of time."

Check out what he had to say below:

Brooks lost the strawweight MMA world title to Pacio in their title rematch back in March by disqualification after he was given a red card for executing an illegal slam in the first round.