“I love talking about that” – Jarred Brooks says infamous self-KO early in his career part of the ‘learning experience’

ONE strawweight MMA world champion Jarred Brooks knows one particular loss early in his career will likely hunt him for life.

Before taking his talents to the largest martial arts organization in the world, ‘The Monkey God’ paid his dues in North America, where he won his first 13 career bouts.

After a controversial loss to former UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo, Brooks took on Jose Torres back in 2018.

The American wrestler was clearly winning the bout up until disaster struck in round 2. After picking up Torres for one of his patented slams, Brooks accidentally fell head-first to the mats, rendering himself unconscious.

Torres, of course, seized the opportunity and landed some ground and pound to finish the fight.

Jarred Brooks went on to win seven straight matches since that unfortunate incident and is now considered one of the best 125-pound fighters on the planet.

Still, the 30-year-old Warsaw, Indiana native admits that stinging defeat still bugs him to this day. However, Brooks now considers that unflattering moment to be a lesson he needed to learn to reach the top.

‘The Monkey God’ said during an interview with Fightwave:

“I love talking about that because that is just a big learning experience and it's a big mountain to climb past as far as fan base so people can get over you knocking yourself the f**k out.”

Watch the full interview:

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Jarred Brooks eager to showcase his evolution in rematch with Joshua Pacio at ONE 166: Qatar

After a brief detour to submission grappling against Mikey Musumeci last year, Jarred Brooks will return to his bread-and-butter MMA on March 1.

The top dog of the strawweight MMA division will run it back with familiar foe Joshua Pacio, the man he usurped back in 2022.

ONE 166: Qatar will air live from Lusail Sports Arena via global pay-per-view on watch.onefc.com.