Reece McLaren believes wholeheartedly that Jarred Brooks is in for a rude awakening when they collide at ONE Fight Night 26 next Friday.
The Australian striker recently proved to the world that he's a challenge-seeker in accepting a flyweight superbout between ONE interim strawweight MMA world champion 'The Monkey God' Jarred Brooks.
In a high-stakes fight that may promise a run for the 135-pound belt, McLaren in his case, would be giving up not only his spot in the top five rankings but also his bid to claim gold if he loses to Brooks on Dec. 6.
Accepting this kind of fight on a month's notice, is in and of itself very risky. But McLaren is a warrior. He's not the type of fighter to say 'no' to stepping out of his comfort zone. That's because, at the end of the day, he's gonna do what he does best, regardless on who he's up against.
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Speaking to ONE Championship this week, Reece McLaren indicated exactly what that means:
"He's [Brooks] probably not gonna be fighting the best Reece, but he's definitely as hell going to be fighting the most violent. I can guarantee violence."
ONE Fight Night 26 airs live from the Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, via Prime Video for North American subscribers.
"He is a little bit one-dimensional" - Reece McLaren is unimpressed by Jarred Brooks' wrestling-heavy fighting style
Reece McLaren gives Jarred Brooks tons of credit for using his wrestling skills to get to the highest pinnacle of his strawweight career. However, he doesn't believe that Brooks has the skills or capacity to fight beyond that and take this win from him at flyweight.
McLaren has fought far too long to let this victory slip away from him. If he defeats Brooks, McLaren would increase his chances of fighting for the vacant flyweight world title.
What he brings to the table, will determine whether an all-round skillset does better with what the Australian calls Brooks' fighting style as 'one-dimensional,' which could ultimately lead to the American's downfall.
Speaking to ONE, he explained:
"I kind of feel he is a bit-one dimenstional with his wrestling offense. He moves lots, and then he always looks to try and wrestle."