Reece McLaren opens up on back-and-forth war of words with Jarred Brooks: "Man, he started it"

Reece McLaren probably knew ahead of time that his next outing would come with even a few words back-and-forth.

The Australian flyweight staple isn't known for trash talking his opponents and he prefers to do his talking in the ring.

Though Jarred Brooks backs up what he says with his performances, the interim ONE strawweight world champion is known for talking a big game.

At ONE Fight Night 26, 'The Monkey God' will make his flyweight debut instead of waiting around for the return of Joshua Pacio.

With McLaren being the opponent to welcome him to the division, this fight has big stakes at play for the rest of the division.

In a fight week interview with the Bangkok Post, the Aussie responded to Brooks claiming that he has been "talking rubbish".

McLaren said that it is, in fact, Brooks who is the one that has been running his mouth ahead of December 6:

"Man, he started it. He could have jumped on the team when old mate popped for steroids and he's like 'I don't give up!' Nah, bro. We as fighters have to band together when there's cheats in our sport. We had the opportunity there to band up though we're not friends or whatever, but put all that aside now (because) we're fighting."

Watch the full interview below:

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Both Reece McLaren and Jarred Brooks will settle it on December 6

Reece McLaren is far too experienced to let something like this distract him from the task at hand.

The same can be said for Jarred Brooks who often thrives under the additional pressure that comes with creating a bit of tension before the fight.

Whether there are any heightened emotions at play or not, this should be an excellent flyweight contest between two high-level competitors that both have their eyes on the vacant gold.