MANILA -- With ONE strawweight world champion Joshua "The Passion" Pacio sidelined with an injury, a pair of top contenders are stepping up to the plate.

Jarred "The Monkey God" Brooks and Gustavo "El Gladiator" Balart will collide at ONE Fight Night 24 on August 23 at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, with the interim strawweight championship on the line.

It will be Jarred "The Monkey God" Brooks vs. Gustavo "El Gladiator" Balart at ONE Fight Night 24 on August 3 at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. Handout/ONE Championship 

Pacio is still recovering from an ACL tear in his right knee, which he incurred ahead of his showdown against Brooks last March at ONE: Qatar.

READ: Joshua Pacio out indefinitely with ACL injury

For Brooks, it's a chance to return to the top of the division immediately following his controversial disqualification loss to Pacio at ONE 166, while also backing up the fighting words that he hurled towards Balart, the No. 3 ranked contender.

Pacio had won the ONE strawweight belt via DQ, after Brooks illegally slammed the Filipino on his head barely a minute into the fight.

READ: Joshua Pacio reclaims ONE title as Jarred Brooks disqualified

"The guy [Balart] hasn't gotten one finish. He hasn't finished anybody," said Brooks. "All he's done is just beat people for three rounds. You're just sitting there getting through the fight. You're not killing anybody."

Balart, a three-time Pan-American Greco-Roman Wrestling Champion, has been on a tear. He has racked up four straight victories with his last being a split decision win over Hiroba Minowa at ONE 165: Superlek vs. Takeru back in January.

The clash for the interim strawweight belt is part of a loaded fight card highlighted by the first title defense of Danielle Kelly of her ONE Atomweight Submission Grappling World Championship against Brazilian challenger Mayssa Bastos.

READ: How Joshua Pacio and Jarred Brooks reconciled following horrid ONE 166 finish

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