"I don't see too much out of him"- Jarred Brooks isn't impressed with Bokang Masunyane

Jarred Brooks doesn’t lack confidence and this is evident in the way he talks trash to his opponents.

In an interview with ONE Championship, Brooks was back to his usual brash self and was dismissive of No.1-ranked strawweight contender Bokang Masunyane. They are set to square off later this month.

Brooks, the No.2-ranked strawweight contender, and Masunyane are scheduled to face each other on April 22 on the undercard of ONE: Eersel vs. Sadikovic. Their bout is a title eliminator for Joshua Pacio’s ONE strawweight world championship.

When asked if he sees anything exceptional with Masunyane, Brooks said:

“Maybe his kicking ability. He has good kicks. But not really, I don't see too much out of him. He has good wrestling, he has good conditioning. But he doesn't like, I said, he hasn't been tested. When a fist comes across the face, then we'll see how he reacts."

He added that while Masunyane has a perfect 8-0 record, the South African fighter hasn't met an opponent like him.

“He's super athletic, he has a lot of great qualities that he has shown. But unfortunately, he hasn't really gone against anybody. And they put him in front of me, I think that I have faced way better opponents. And I’ve faced the same amount of opponents as Bokang did.”

Jarred Brooks is 2-0 in his first two matches at ONE Championship. ‘The Monkey God’ submitted Lito Adiwang in his promotional debut and came away with a unanimous decision win over Hiroba Minowa in his second bout.

Bokang Masunyane is also 2-0 in ONE Championship. He won via unanimous decision against Ryuto Sawada in his first fight in December 2019 before knocking out former title challenger Rene Catalan a year later.

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Jarred Brooks already expecting a win over Bokang Masunyane

It’s still nearly three weeks before he takes on Bokang Masunyane, but Jarred Brooks is already beaming with confidence ahead of their title eliminator. Brooks, a UFC veteran, is already expecting a win and a finish at that.

He further told ONE Championship:

“I'm definitely expecting a finish. I'm not letting a five-foot guy get out of that circle. In my personal opinion, yeah I think that I'm the best in the division no matter what. I mean, you got to go out and prove things. But inside of my head and the way I see fight night, I do see my hand getting raised in a spectacular fashion."

Jarred Brooks predicted that Bokang Masunyane will be pressing for takedowns come fight night. The 28-year-old, however, said that Masunyane won’t be getting any ground control in their matchup. It remains to be seen who emerges victorious and takes on strawweight champion Joshua Pacio next.