Jarred "The Monkey God" Brooks and Gustavo "El Gladiador" Balart face off after their weigh-in ahead of ONE Fight Night 24, August 2, 2024 in Bangkok, Thailand. Handout/ONE Championship


Jarred "The Monkey God" Brooks and Gustavo "El Gladiador" Balart face off after their weigh-in ahead of ONE Fight Night 24, August 2, 2024 in Bangkok, Thailand

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<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1722602567951DC-3269.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Jarred " The="" Monkey="" Brooks="" and="" Gustavo="" Balart="" face="" off="" after="" their="" weigh-in="" ahead="" of="" Fight="" Night="" August="" in="" Thailand.="" Handout=""/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Jarred &quot;The Monkey God&quot; Brooks and Gustavo &quot;El Gladiador&quot; Balart face off after their weigh-in ahead of ONE Fight Night 24, August 2, 2024 in Bangkok, Thailand. <em>Handout/ONE Championship</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA -- ONE Strawweight MMA World Champion Joshua &quot;The Passion&quot; Pacio broke down the upcoming match between his rival in top-ranked contender Jarred &quot;The Monkey God&quot; Brooks and #3-ranked Gustavo &quot;El Gladiador&quot; Balart. </p><p>The two strawweights were suposed to dispute the division&#x27;s interim strap at ONE Fight Night 24 this Saturday, August 3, inside Lumpinee Stadium, with the winner getting a crack at Pacio when the Filipino makes his eventual comeback following an ACL tear. </p><p>However, Balart failed to make a successful weigh-in inside the allowed window. The fight will still proceed at a catchweight of 126 pounds, though only Brooks is eligible to win the interi title. Balart will also forfeit 25% of his purse to his opponent.</p><p>It&#x27;s been no secret that Pacio wants Brooks to win because they have unfinished business following their controversial rematch earlier this year. </p><p>But the Lions Nation MMA star believes people shouldn&#x27;t overlook Balart, who has won his last four fights to get to this position. </p><p>&quot;If I&#x27;m facing Balart, I won&#x27;t ever sleep on him. Even though he&#x27;s small, he&#x27;s like a loose cannon,&quot; Pacio said.</p><p>&quot;He&#x27;s just moving forward, he&#x27;s just throwing everything he has at you. His size, in a sense, is also an advantage. He&#x27;s tough to submit, he&#x27;s tough to take down.&quot;</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/2024/7/9/pacio-expects-brooks-to-take-care-of-business-against-balart-1756">READ: Pacio expects Brooks to take care of business against Balart</a></div><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/2024/7/24/brooks-eyes-impressive-win-over-balart-im-gonna-bully-him-153">READ: Brooks eyes impressive win over Balart</a></div><p>He believes that if there&#x27;s a person who will test Brooks&#x27; strong-style wrestling, it&#x27;s going to be Balart. </p><p>&quot;El Gladiador&quot; is an accomplished wrestler himself, having represented Cuba in Greco-Roman wrestling in the 2012 London Olympics.  </p><p>&quot;Jarred&#x27;s caliber as a wrestler is different as well, but I think Jarred will adjust a bit because Balart&#x27;s smaller than him.&quot; </p><p>That said, he&#x27;s still banking on a Brooks victory. </p><p>Between the two, Pacion believes that Brooks has the more refined striking, and he can speak from experience as the American surprisingly made him work on the feet in their initial match. </p><p>And given that he sees a stalemate happening in the wrestling department, he expects the American to rise above. </p><p>&quot;Brooks has better boxing than Balart. Balart tends to throw wide punches while Brooks has sharp boxing. I think he&#x27;ll mix it up. He&#x27;ll box and go for the takedown. Rinse and repeat,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;I see Jarred Brooks winning via unanimous decision.&quot;</p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KUMAATWUUHw?&amp;t=7s&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><div><br/></div><div><br/></div><div><br/></div>

<p>It's been no secret that Pacio wants Brooks to win because they have unfinished business following their controversial rematch earlier this year.</p>

It's been no secret that Pacio wants Brooks to win because they have unfinished business following their controversial rematch earlier this year.

MMA: Joshua Pacio predicts Jarred Brooks victory over Balart | ABS-CBN

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MMA: Joshua Pacio predicts Jarred Brooks victory over Balart

MMA: Joshua Pacio predicts Jarred Brooks victory over Balart

ABS-CBN News

Published Aug 02, 2024 08:45 PM PHT

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