"That dude is an animal" - New interim strawweight MMA king Jarred Brooks says Gustavo Balart earned his respect

Interim strawweight MMA world champion Jarred Brooks has discovered a newfound respect for his ONE Fight Night 24 dance partner Gustavo Balart. The pair figured in an entertaining main event clash at Lumpinee Stadium over the weekend.

While the match ended in round one courtesy of a suffocating rear-naked choke finish from 'The Monkey God', he graciously acknowledged his Cuban opponent after the match.

Brooks told ONE commentator Mitch Chilson during his in-ring interview:

"Much respect to Gustavo Balart. That dude is an animal. He put me on my back for the first time in my whole career. So hats off to him."

Much was said about Balart's Olympic wrestling pedigree in the build-up to this pivotal showdown at 125 pounds. However, Brooks proved that his grappling was superior when he caught a kick and completed a successful takedown in the first five seconds of the match.

While 'El Gladiador' completed a nice reversal and held top control momentarily, he was just simply outclassed by the better fighter.

Brooks landed another textbook trip takedown and went straight to a beautiful back-take. The rest, as we now know, is history.

The replay of Jarred Brooks' title-clinching performance is available on demand for those with a Prime Video subscription in the United States and Canada.

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Jarred Brooks redeemed himself at ONE Fight Night 24

It wasn't that long ago when Jarred Brooks' felt his career was in shambles after losing his world title via disqualification to Joshua Pacio last March at ONE 166: Qatar.

The 31-year-old, though, bravely moved forward and reclaimed what was his with a statement-making performance against Balart. He said in the same in-ring interview:

"You have no idea the amount of pain, the agony, the sacrifice that I had to do to get this belt."