Mikey Musumeci gives props to Jarred Brooks: “He dropped his ego to come out here and grapple with me”

Following his third consecutive title defense at ONE Fight Night 13, Mikey Musumeci showed respect to his challenger Jarred Brooks.

As the reigning ONE strawweight MMA world champion, Brooks has proved that he won’t back down from a challenge. While his grappling has been his biggest strength in the strawweight division, competing in submission grappling against one of the worlds best is a different story altogether.

Taking himself out of his comfort zone in ONE Championship, Brooks knew that he would be up against the odds but was motivated by the challenge. Though he may have lost the contest via submission, ‘The Monkey God’ still gave a good account of himself in fending off so many submission attempts from the defending champion.

Earning Musumeci’s respect for even taking the matchup, ‘Darth Rigatoni’ was also impressed by Brooks’ resilience and tenacity in the ring inside the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

Knowing full well that he could get submitted, the strawweight champ didn’t let that get in the way of striving for greatness in attempting to become a two-sport world champion.

In his post-fight interview, Mikey Musumeci commended his opponent for putting it on the line and testing himself in the biggest way possible:

“He dropped his ego to come out here and grapple with me. And that's what I define as a champion. So again, I have so much respect for that guy.”

Brooks repaid the compliments to the champ, with the pair sharing a few exchanges inside the ring immediately after the contest.

North American viewers can rewatch the entire ONE Fight Night 13 card via the free event replay on Amazon Prime Video.