"People are starting to appreciate" - Lito Adiwang says fans have learned to embrace Jarred Brooks' over-the-top persona

ONE strawweight MMA contender Lito Adiwang believes Jarred Brooks is an acquired taste. 'The Monkey God' rubbed many people the wrong way with his domineering and seemingly WWE-esque promos. While the American is quite entertaining with a microphone in his hand, some believe he sometimes crosses the line with his trash talk.

Then again, Jarred Brooks always manages to walk the talk. The interim strawweight MMA world champion's versatile fighting skills are truly world-class, something he has proven time and time again in the world's largest martial arts organization.

While Brooks doesn't mind being the heel, it seems like more fans have grown to appreciate his antics. Adiwang certainly thinks so, sharing his sentiment in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA:

"Before, his trash-talking was met with a lot of criticism and negative feedback, but nowadays, people are starting to appreciate how he markets himself because they now understand that it’s mainly for show."

Jarred Brooks has embraced an antagonistic persona, especially in the build-up to his fights.

However, fight fans have seen how empathetic he can be after displaying remorse in his controversial bout with Joshua Pacio at ONE 166 last March.

'The Monkey God' was disqualified after inadvertently spiking 'The Passion' on his head but was quick to apologize to his rival in the aftermath of their heated match.

Jarred Brooks admits animosity is part of selling fights

At the end of the day, Jarred Brooks is not just a martial artist but also an entertainer.

To put more eyeballs on his MMA bouts, 'The Monkey God' also plays the role of a master promoter by instigating 'beef' with his opponents.

The interim strawweight MMA kingpin admitted this in a previous interview with the South China Morning Post. He said:

"This is a fight game, and you have to have people that want to be you, and you want people to get excited and get emotionally invested. I think I did a really good job of that with [Joshua] Pacio because Pacio is internationally and worldly loved. I wanted to put a little stake in that at the same time."