Jarred Brooks says streaking Gustavo Balart deserves a strawweight title shot

Jarred Brooks believes American Top Team standout Gustavo Balart should be the next man up for a ONE strawweight world title opportunity.

Balart, who is only listed at 4’11” tall, has rattled off three straight victories under the ONE Championship banner, scoring wins against Ryuto Sawada, Yosuke Saruta, and Alex Silva. In the eyes of Jarred Brooks, those three wins have earned Balart a shot at the ONE strawweight world championship.

Speaking with the promotion, Jarred Brooks spoke about the state of the strawweight division, suggesting that Balart is more deserving of a title opportunity to compared to Russian prospect Mansur Malachiev:

“They've been pushing him off to the side, acting like Mansur was going to get this fight, which rightfully so, he was an Eagle FC champion. But I think that Gustavo Balart deserves it.”

Malachiev certainly made a claim for himself in his promotional debut at ONE Fight Night 11, earning a first-round submission victory against Jeremy Miado. Malachiev is also 11-0 in his mixed martial arts career, making him a much more intriguing matchup for many fight fans.

As it stands right now, neither Gustavo Balart nor Mansur Malachiev will be the next challenge for ‘The Monkey God.’

On August 4, Jarred Brooks will return to the ring for a showdown inside the legendary Lumpinee Boxing Stadium against reigning ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion Mikey Musumeci. If Brooks walks away with Musumeci’s 26 pounds of gold, he will make history as the first fighter to carry both MMA and grappling titles simultaneously.

Amazon Prime Video subscribers in North America can catch all the action at ONE Fight Night 13 live and for free in U.S. primetime on August 4.