Jarred Brooks hopes to capture the attention of the combat sports world by reclaiming ONE Championship gold and potentially landing a fight against flyweight GOAT Demetrious Johnson.
At ONE Fight Night 25, Brooks (20-3 MMA, 4-1 ONE) will fight Gustavo Balart in the main event for the ONE interim strawweight (125 pounds) title. The event takes place on Aug. 2 at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, and will stream live on Prime Video (8 p.m. ET).
“Hopefully, with this fight, I can show people the true Jarred Brooks and show people that I am the best in the world no matter what organization – PFL, UFC, ONE Championship – it doesn’t matter,” Brooks told MMA Junkie Radio. “I’m the best flyweight in the world, and if you want to come and test it, come f*ck with me.”
Brooks, a UFC veteran who exited the promotion after a win, has been on an impressive run under the ONE Championship banner. He captured the ONE strawweight title by defeating Joshua Pacio at ONE 164 in December 2022 after winning his first three fights in the promotion. He would lose the rematch in March due to an illegal spike, but is stepping right back in again to fight for a piece of the title.
If successful, Brooks hopes to use his momentum to finally land a dream fight against Johnson (25-4-1 MMA, 5-1 ONE), who is widely considered to be the best MMA fighter ever at 125 pounds.
“It’s kind of like ‘MGK’ and Eminem battling,” Brooks said. “I’m pretty sure that ‘MGK’ felt sort of a satisfaction getting to go against the GOAT. You know, he got his ass kicked, but at the same time, there is that form of satisfaction, and I think that’s something that I’ve strived for since the beginning of my career in 2012. I think that would be something that is checked off of the bucket list.
“If I beat Demetrious Johnson, it will just bring my name up way, way higher in the echelon of mixed martial arts and combat sports world.”
While Brooks, 31, seems excited about the possibility of a fight with Johnson, who hasn’t competed since winning a trilogy bout against Adriano Moraes last May, he won’t lose any sleep if it doesn’t come to fruition. Johnson is 37 and appears to be winding down his career.
“But I’m not worried about fighting Demetrious Johnson anymore,” Brooks said. “It seems like he wants to do boxing matches. It seems like he wants to go outside of his realm. They need to get Reece McClaren the championship then. I’ll fight Reece McClaren and I’ll beat his Australian ass. It doesn’t matter.
“I’ve called him out nicely. I’ve called him out disrespectfully. I’ve called him out every which way you can. … No responses at all.”
Brooks continued:
“From now, I’m not going to be super disrespectful to Demetrious, but I have called him out in a respectful way and I’ve called him out in a disrespectful way. I tried to gain fans, I tried to gain momentum, and it wasn’t working. At this point, if they want to put the fight on, then put the fight on, but if not, then I’m done talking about it.”
