“That means a lot” - Jarred Brooks on earning black belt after winning gold at ONE Fight Night 24

Newly crowned ONE interim strawweight MMA world champion 'The Monkey God' Jarred Brooks of the United States had an amazing weekend. Not only did he take the division's interim throne, but he was also awarded his black belt in the ring by Roots Combat Club jiu-jitsu coach Alex Hodi.

Brooks needed just one round to submit former Cuban Olympic wrestler 'El Gladiador' Gustavo Balart in the main event of ONE Fight Night 24 on Prime Video.

Before the ONE Championship belt was wrapped around his west, coach Hodi came up to 'The Monkey God' and surprised him with the jiu-jitsu black belt, fittingly for his submission win.

Speaking in the official ONE Fight Night 24 post-fight interview backstage, Brooks shared what he felt in that moment, and how much the gesture meant to him.

'The Monkey God' said:

"Man, that means a lot coming from my jiu-jitsu coach, Alex Hodi. We've worked day in, and day out on our jiu-jitsu game. And my coach, James Lee, and Brian Harper. I've had a great staff here this whole camp. So to get a black belt tonight means the most, especially coming from Alex. He's a very humble man, but I do think that he's probably one of the best grapplers in the world right now. So, yeah, it just meant the world to me."

Jarred Brooks says the road back to the gold was a tough one with a lot of sacrifices: "You have no idea"

'The Monkey God' Jarred Brooks is a world champion once again, but he says the road to redemption was anything but easy.

The 31-year-old dealt with heavy backlash stemming from his head spike of Joshua Pacio in March. But with the world title win last weekend, Brooks has now erased the painful memory of his devastating setback in Qatar.

He added:

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

ONE Fight Night 24: Brooks vs. Balart took place live from the historic Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand on Saturday, August 3. Fans in the United States and Canada can catch all the action via replay on-demand on Amazon Prime Video.