More than three years removed from his last UFC appearance, and almost two years since his last bout at Bellator 237, Jarred Brooks is ready to launch his bid for the ONE strawweight title.
Brooks takes on Filipino contender Lito Adiwang in the main event of ONE: NextGen III, which takes place Friday, November 26 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
It’s a bout that could propel the victor toward a title fight against reigning champion Joshua Pacio, and, while Brooks acknowledges Adiwang as arguably “more scary” opponent than the champion, he says he’s ready to face the powerful contender and use his experience and fight IQ – and a little know-how from the movie, Dodgeball – to claim the win on his ONE Championship debut.
“Hopefully I’m going to put the best portion of me in there,” he said, speaking during a virtual media day session.
“Whatever Lito brings towards me, I’m going to shuck it off like it’s a street fight.
“If he’s trying to bring his punches towards me, I’m going to treat them like they’re knives.
“So I’m going to be ducking, dodging, dipping, diving and dodging, just like the Dodgeball rules!”
But, despite Adiwang’s seven KOs from 13 wins, Brooks says he’s ready to face the “Thunder Kid’s” power and use his in-cage smarts to get the victory.
“He’s going to try to take my head off – this guy is a killer, don’t get me wrong – but he’s going against a very, very intelligent fighter, and a very strong fighter,” he said.
“If he thinks I’m going to be like Hexigetu or even like Hiroba, then he’s definitely mistaken.
“I’m definitely ready to go out there and show the people and all of Malaysia that there’s a new guy in town and I’m ready to beat Lito a little bit better than Hiroba Minowa, and the other people that have beaten him.”
The six-fight card in Singapore features two other MMA bout, with former strawweight champion Alex “Little Rock” Silva taking on Filipino Rene Catalan, while Dutch lightweight contender Pieter Buist looks to claim victory over Kyrgyzstan’s Ruslan Emilbek.
