“This is just the beginning” - Reece McLaren reveals training with a broken hand ahead of pivotal showdown against Jarred Brooks

There's no denying the sheer heart Reece McLaren has for his craft.

The Australian grappling machine revealed on Instagram that he trained with a broken hand in preparation for his pivotal flyweight MMA matchup against Jarred Brooks at ONE Fight Night 26 this past weekend at Lumpinee Stadium.

McLaren wrote that he suffered a fractured thumb more than a month before he took on the ONE interim strawweight MMA world champion in Bangkok.

This injury forced McLaren to limit his training camp and only sparred once using both of his hands.

Reece McLaren wrote:

"Where do I start. 6 weeks ago I fractured my thumb. A week later we got a fight call-up. How could we say no? Short notice heavy 😬 and one-handed. (Only sparred once with my right the week before we flew out). Firstly massive thank you @the_monkeygod you’re the man. King of the straw weights for a reason."

He added:

"This is just the beginning!⚡️💛⚡️and of course, the boss @yodchatri [ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong] thank you for hosting us in the beautiful city of Bangkok!!!"

McLaren, the number-four ranked flyweight MMA contender, started off slow against Brooks in their Bangkok showdown, with the American star dictating the pace in the first round.

The second and third rounds, however, saw McLaren come to life as he used his range and striking to do considerable damage on Brooks' face. McLaren even locked in a tight D'arce choke that nearly submitted Brooks in the third round.

That late surge ultimately swayed the scorecards to McLaren's favor as he captured the split decision win.

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Reece McLaren open for a return to bantamweight

He may have settled comfortably in the flyweight MMA division, but Australian firecracker Reece McLaren admitted that returning to bantamweight is still an option further down in his career.

The 33-year-old started his ONE Championship career as one of the promotion's top bantamweight contenders, taking then-ONE bantamweight MMA world champion Bibiano Fernandes to the limit in their world title clash in Manila.

In a previous interview with the Bangkok Post, McLaren said moving up to 145 lbs is still a possibility:

"I'd love to go up. I think going up would be fun. I'd be able to eat, be fully fueled and charging."