“Paved the way for my career” - Jarred Brooks thankful for Demetrious Johnson despite getting blocked on Instagram

Top-ranked strawweight contender Jarred Brooks recently thanked Demetrious Johnson for paving the way for his career, despite being blocked by him on Instagram.

‘The Monkey God’ felt nothing but inspired after watching his MMA idol succeed in capturing the ONE flyweight world championship belt at ONE on Prime Video 1. At the same time, Johnson’s victory enhanced Brooks’ desire to one day meet him inside the circle.

Speaking to SCMP MMA, the confident fighter admitted he’d love to step up to the plate to face a living legend like Demetrious Johnson, but of course, not without stirring some trouble as well:

“As I said, I rise to the occasion. If I'm going against somebody that's really good, I'm going to start to either mirror, mimic, or make them think that they're not as good as they are. And that's what I'm really good at. I can get mentally in your head as well.”

Watch the interview below:

Jarred Brooks is notorious for his brash-speaking ways that more often than not has caused him to get into a war of words with former rivals.

However, fighters like Demetrious Johnson aren’t fans of trash-talking and it’s no wonder he blocked ‘The Monkey God’ from his Instagram. However, this is something that Brooks doesn’t hold resentment for:

“Demetrious blocked me on Instagram, I think three years ago because I was talking that sh*t in the UFC. So he's already got the hint. He already knows what's up. But I think at the end of the day, I love Demetrious Johnson. I love you, Demetrious Johnson. You have paved the way for my career... It's been literally, 10 years since I've been studying Demetrious Johnson. So for that [fight] to happen, would be crazy.”

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Jarred Brooks recalls fan-boying on Demetrious Johnson in their first meeting

Getting to meet Demetrious Johnson for the first time was a humbling experience for Jarred Brooks.

When Brooks was 14, he watched ‘Mighty Mouse’ win his first world title back in September 2012. So, meeting one of the greatest pound-for-pound fighters in the flesh at ONE Championship was a dream come true.

At the ONE 156 post-fight interview, Jarred Brooks recalled meeting Johnson with the following story:

“The first time I met Demetrious, I was fanboying out and I was just like ‘Dude that’s the GOAT, he’s the best of all time’ and you know, he kind of seemed a little bit annoyed but at the same time, the next day he comes and sees me eating breakfast by myself and he just came up and sat down and talked to me for like almost an hour.”

Watch the full clip below: