Jarred Brooks says wrestling background helped him develop “maturity and growth” needed to succeed in MMA

ONE strawweight MMA world champion Jarred Brooks said his background in wrestling prepared him well for a successful career in mixed martial arts. He cited the discipline to stay the course amid adversaries as among the facets he developed doing wrestling.

‘The Monkey God’ has had a decade-long career so far as a professional mixed martial artist, compiling a win-loss record of 20-3. His last four wins were fashioned out under ONE Championship, including the title-clinching unanimous decision victory over Joshua Pacio in December 2022, where he seized the strawweight MMA gold.

In an interview over FightWave, 30-year-old Brooks shared the significant role that wrestling is having in his successful MMA career, saying:

“Yeah, in wrestling, you know, I had the maturity and growth through hardships and the same thing through mixed martial arts. So it was me just trying to find funds and trying to fund my own career.”

Watch the interview below:

Jarred Brooks is back in action at ONE 166: Qatar on March 1, which will also mark his return to MMA after a brief detour to submission grappling in his last fight in August.

At ONE 166 he will defend the strawweight MMA world title against Pacio in a title rematch.

The first live on-ground event in Qatar will take place at the Lusail Sports Arena and will air live on March 1 via global pay-per-view on watch.onefc.com.

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Jarred Brooks promises a more explosive finish against Joshua Pacio at ONE 166

American MMA champion Jarred Brooks is going for a more explosive finish against Filipino fighter Joshua Pacio in their title rematch in a month’s time in Qatar.

The Indiana native will make his first defense of the ONE strawweight MMA world title against the same opponent he took the belt from by unanimous decision in their first title encounter in December 2022.

In the same interview with FightWave, ‘The Monkey God’ shared that unlike their initial encounter, he is preparing a more potent attack to better the unanimous decision victory he chalked up last time around over Pacio.

He said:

“I'm not really worried about what he has in his game plan. I know that he has a new nutritionist and stuff like that but like bro, nothing's going to change and I think the outcome is going to be worse for him.”

Apart from retaining his world title, Jarred Brooks is also out to bounce back at ONE 166: Qatar after his failed attempt to become a two-sport ONE world champion back in August, when he lost to flyweight submission grappling king Mikey Musumeci in their all-champion clash.