MMA world champion and rapper Jarred Brooks names his top music influences

When he’s not busy beating up the best strawweight fighters in the world, Jarred Brooks loves to spend time honing his other passion. The reigning ONE strawweight world champion is also a lyrically-gifted musician, who loves to write and perform his own rap songs.

‘The Monkey God’ even teased ONE fans with some sick bars in several diss tracks for his past opponents. But like every rapper before him, Brooks was also influenced by some of the all-time greats during his formative years in Warsaw, Indiana.

The 125-pound world titleholder shared his biggest musical idols, in an interview with the Singapore-based promotion and said:

“Oh, we gotta go with Missy Elliott. Missy Elliott was the shiznit. Kid Rock. Let me see. You know, even No Doubt, like Gwen Stefani, she was amazing. Busta Rhymes was awesome. I didn't start getting into A Tribe Called Quest until I was a teenager and stuff but huge, huge fan of tribe. We got Limp Bizkit. Limp Bizkit was huge, Fred Durst. Man, I was just listening to everything but as far as hip-hop, I would say the top two were Eminem and Limp Bizkit.”

Jarred Brooks certainly had some great picks in there, and we could definitely see how he was molded by these great artists not just with the way he raps, but also in the manner of how he fights.

It’s no secret why the 30-year-old has an affinity for Eminem considering he now calls Detroit, Michigan his home.

The aggressiveness of Fred Durst and Limp Bizkit’s tunes also encapsulates ‘The Monkey God’s relentless, non-stop, and in-your-face pressure each time we see him in the Circle.

In less than a week, Brooks returns for a new challenge as he seeks two-sport supremacy by challenging Mikey Musumeci for the ONE flyweight submission grappling world title.

This champion vs champion all-grappling war is part of ONE Fight Night 13: Allazov vs Grigorian on Prime Video this August 4 at Bangkok’s Lumpinee Stadium. The entire card will air live and free for existing Prime Video subscribers in North America.