“He is more technical” - Jarred Brooks says Mikey Musumeci’s technique his biggest advantage to beating Kade Ruotolo
Former ONE strawweight MMA world champion Jarred Brooks thinks the size disadvantage that Mikey Musumeci has against Kade Ruotolo in their scheduled title clash later this year is something he could actually tap into.
Musumeci, the reigning flyweight submission grappling king, will go up three divisions and challenge lightweight Ruotolo for his belt at ONE 168 in Denver, Colorado, U.S.A. on Sept. 6.
In an interview with the South China Morning Post, Jarred Brooks shared his take on the all-champion clash between Musumeci and Ruotolo, touching on the interesting dynamics between the two in terms of the weight difference and how the defending lightweight world champion would not necessarily have his way just by virtue of his size.
'The Monkey God' said:
"I do think that Kade has the advantage just because he is used to competiting at that weight. But another advantage that Mikey might have is he is a smaller guy, which means that he is more technical and understands more holes than your average bigger guy."
Check out what he had to say below:
Jarred Brooks is already familiar with the game of Musumeci, having challenged the latter for the flyweight belt in August last year. He, however, fell by submission late in their 10-minute title fight.
Meanwhile, Ruotolo will be defending the lightweight submission grappling belt for the third time at ONE 168: Denver.
Incidentally, both Ruotolo and Musumeci are undefeated in ONE Championship to date in each of their seven matches.
Jarred Brooks confident of coming out victorious at ONE Fight Night 24
Just as he is going to be an interested spectator for the all-champion title clash between Kade Ruotolo and Mikey Musumeci, Jarred Brooks is also putting in the work ahead of his scheduled championship match next month in Thailand.
The 31-year-old American fighter will take on veteran Cuban warrior Gustavo Balart for the ONE interim strawweight MMA world title at ONE Fight Night 24 on Prime Video on Aug. 2.
It will serve as the headlining bout of the event happening at the famed Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand and will be available live and for free to North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.
In an interview with Sportskeeda MMA, Jarred Brooks shared his confidence heading into his showdown against Balart, banking, he said, on his high fight IQ,
He said:
"I have a very good and high fight IQ. I don't take too many chances. And besides that, I know how to win. I really do. Winning is in my repertoire, losing is definitely not."
At ONE Fight Night 24, Jarred Brooks is looking to redeem himself after losing the ONE strawweight MMA world title to Filipino rival Joshua Pacio in their title rematch in March by disqualification (illegal spike).
The promotion is having an interim strawweight championship match as Pacio is indefinitely out for tearing his ACL.