Tag: Jarred Brooks

ONE Championship books Jarred Brooks vs. Gustavo Balart for interim strawweight title

With strawweight champion Joshua Pacio injured, ONE Championship is implementing an interim title for the division this summer.

With strawweight champion [autotag]Joshua Pacio[/autotag] injured, ONE Championship is implementing an interim title for the division this summer.

Former titleholder [autotag]Jarred Brooks[/autotag] will take on [autotag]Gustavo Balart[/autotag] in the main event of ONE Fight Night 24, which takes place Aug. 2 at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand (Prime Video, 8 p.m. ET).

A ONE Championship official verified the booking between Brooks (20-3) and Balart (12-4) with MMA Junkie on Tuesday.

Brooks, 31, saw his reign come to an end in March when he was disqualified against Pacio for an illegal spike to his opponent. He was outraged by the situation, but will have his chance to earn his way into a trilogy bout after winning the first meeting against Pacio in December 2022.

Standing in his way will be Cuba’s Balart, a decorated amateur wrestler who has reeled off four consecutive victories dating back to July 2021.

Pacio is expected to be sidelines until early 2025 with an MCL injury before returning for a title unification bout.

Jarred Brooks has high aspirations, including Demetrious Johnson fight, as ONE strawweight champion

At 29 and a newly crowned champ, Jarred Brooks recognizes he has a chance to do great things in the prime of his career.

Ever since he left the UFC in 2018, [autotag]Jarred Brooks[/autotag] has been on a roll. Now he can call himself champion.

Brooks, who’s bounced between competing at 125 and 135 pounds in his career, claimed the ONE Championship strawweight (125) title earlier this month when he defeated Joshua Pacio by unanimous decision at ONE 164. While it might not be his ideal scenario, it’ll certainly do.

“It’s not the weight class that I would like to be a world champion in, but we’ve got time,” Brooks, who’s on a seven-fight winning streak, told MMA Junkie Radio. “That’s all that matters.”

Time for what exactly? Big things, he hopes.

At 29, Brooks – who went 2-2 in the UFC, including a split decision loss to Deiveson Figuieredo – is in the prime of his career. He said he would like to defend the ONE strawweight title “a couple of times,” but then he wants to move up to face one of the greatest fighters of all time.

“I would also like to fight Demetrious Johnson,” Brooks said. “Demetrious Johnson’s the GOAT. Would love to fight him.”

Brooks (20-2) said he’d also be open to a super fight with John Lineker if the promotion was into it. And while he’s not necessarily holding out hope of a cross promotion between ONE and the UFC, running it back with Figueiredo or getting a shot at Brandon Moreno would be something he desires.

You can watch Brooks’ full interview with MMA Junkie Radio in the video above.

UFC veterans in MMA, boxing and bareknuckle action Dec. 1-4

Check out which veterans of the UFC are in action this week.

This week, the 15-fight slate of bouts at UFC on ESPN 42 takes place at the Amway Center in Orlando, Fla.

Elsewhere, there are a number of MMA, boxing and bareknuckle events taking place that feature familiar names that have competed under the UFC banner.

These 13 veterans of the global MMA leader are competing in MMA, boxing and bareknuckle this week from Dec. 1-4.

Check out the names and details about their bouts below.

Upcoming event information from Tapology.

ONE Championship: Only the Brave results – Zhang Lipeng blasts Ruslan Emilbek with 32-second KO

Former UFC fighter Zhang Lipeng wasted no time putting a stamp on his second fight for ONE Championship.

Former UFC fighter [autotag]Zhang Lipeng[/autotag] wasted no time putting a stamp on his second fight for ONE Championship.

Lipeng (32-11-2) knocked out [autotag]Ruslan Emilbek[/autotag] (16-3) in just 32 seconds in the featured MMA bout at ONE Championship: Only the Brave on Friday. When Emilbek threw a right hand early in the fight, Lipeng slid back, then countered with a left that connected. Lipeng landed a right hand that was on the button while Emilbek was falling to the canvas.

The finish was one of the fastest in ONE lightweight history. Lipeng earned a $50,000 bonus for the finish.

Lipeng returned from a layoff of nearly two years in August 2021 and outpointed former champion Eduard Folayang in his promotional debut. His Friday knockout was the fastest finish of his career.

Lipeng fought four times in the UFC from 2014-2015 and went 2-2.

ONE Championship: Only the Brave MMA results included:

  • Zhang Lipeng def. Ruslan Emilbek Uulu via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 0:32
  • [autotag]Hiroyuki Tetsuka[/autotag] def. [autotag]Edson Marques[/autotag] via knockout (punches) – Round 3, 1:05
  • [autotag]Jarred Brooks[/autotag] def. [autotag]Hiroba Minowa[/autotag] via unanimous decision
  • [autotag]Tatsumitsu Wada[/autotag] def. [autotag]Wang Shuo[/autotag] via unanimous decision
  • [autotag]Purev Otgonjargal[/autotag] def. [autotag]Micael De Jesus[/autotag] via unanimous decision

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Bellator 237, Rizin FF 20 cards begin to fill out with multiple additions, including five crossover bouts

Multiple new additions have been added to December’s dual Bellator and Rizin FF cards in Japan, including five crossover contests.

Five additional fights have been added to the upcoming Bellator and Rizin FF joint cards being held in Saitama, Japan.

Bellator president Scott Coker shared the news of three crossover bouts that are headed to the Bellator 237 card at Saitama Super Arena, as well as two crossover bouts added to the Rizin FF 20 card also taking place at the same venue, two days later.

On the Bellator card, UFC veterans [autotag]Lorenz Larkin[/autotag] (21-7 MMA, 3-2 BMMA) and [autotag]Keita Nakamura[/autotag] (35-10-2 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) will both make quick turnarounds and square off in a welterweight bout. Since dropping his first two promotional bouts with Bellator, Larkin has won his last three in a row, most recently picking up a split-decision win over Andrey Koreshkov at Bellator 229. Nakamura made good in his Rizin debut, scoring a first round finish over Marcos Yoshio de Souza at Rizin FF 19.

Also headed to Bellator 237 is a women’s flyweight bout between [autotag]Ilara Joanne[/autotag] (9-4 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) and [autotag]Kana Watanabe[/autotag] (8-0-1 MMA, 0-0 BMMA). Joanne recently picked up the biggest win of her career, submitting UFC veteran Bec Rawlings in her Bellator debut last month. Joanne, who’s riding a three-fight winning streak, recently called out 125-pound champ Ilima-Lei Macfarlane, but instead draws Japan’s undefeated Watanabe.

The third bout added to Bellator 237 is a lightweight bout between [autotag]Goiti Yamauchi[/autotag] (24-4 MMA, 10-3 BMMA) and [autotag]Daron Cruickshank[/autotag] (22-12 MMA, 0-0 BMMA). Yamauchi is coming off back-to-back wins that include a decision over Daniel Weichel and a first-round submission over Saad Awad at October’s Bellator 229. Cruickshank, has dropped his last two in a row to Damien Brown and Tofiq Musaev, and he now looks to get back in the win column.

Meanwhile, on the Dec. 31 Rizin card, two bouts will take place under the Japanese promotion’s ruleset. [autotag]Yuki Motoya[/autotag] (23-7) faces undefeated [autotag]Patrick Mix[/autotag] (12-0) in a bantamweight bout, while [autotag]Mikuru Asakura[/autotag] (11-1) will take on [autotag]John Macapa[/autotag] (23-42) in a featherweight clash.

Meanwhile, Rizin officials announced a series of post-lim bouts to take place at Bellator 237, which the Japanese promotion is calling “Bellator Japan powered by RIZIN.”

The matchups include [autotag]Andy Nguyen[/autotag] (6-8) vs. [autotag]Ai Shimizu[/autotag] (5-1), [autotag]Ryuichiro Sumimura[/autotag] (14-7) vs. [autotag]Jon Tuck[/autotag] (10-5), [autotag]Jarred Brooks[/autotag] (15-2) vs. [autotag]Haruo Ochi[/autotag] (19-7-2) and [autotag]Hiroto Uesako[/autotag] (16-8) vs. [autotag]Yusuke Yachi[/autotag] (20-9).