“I respect all of my opponents” - Jarred Brooks says selling fights is just for show and to get people ‘excited’
Former ONE strawweight MMA world champion and current first-ranked contender 'The Monkey God' Jarred Brooks of the United States is one of the most charismatic mixed martial arts fighters in the game today.
The 31-year-old Mash Fight Team representative knows how to sell his fights and get people interested in watching him in the cage. But outside of the showmanship, Brooks says, he has a lot of respect for his opponents.
Speaking to the South China Morning Post in a recent interview, Brooks talked about the art of selling fights, particularly the two against Joshua Pacio, and why it's nothing personal in the fight game.
'The Monkey God' 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."
Brooks added:
"But throughout the banter, throughout all of that, man, I respect all of my opponents, and it shows after the fight. And it sucked. Because when you win in a tremendous fashion, you have nothing going on in your head other than I just won this fight, I just won $50,000 and I'm going to go hang out with some sheiks."
Jarred Brooks to fight for interim strawweight gold against Gustavo Balart at ONE Fight Night 24 on Prime Video
Former strawweight MMA titleholder 'The Monkey God' Jarred Brooks is set to lock horns with no.3-ranked contender 'El Gladiador' Gustavo Balart for the ONE interim strawweight MMA world title in the main event at ONE Fight Night 24: Brooks vs. Balart on Prime Video.
The event broadcasts live from the historic Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand on Friday, August 2nd.
Fans in the United States and Canada can catch all the action live and absolutely free on Amazon Prime Video. Stay tuned to Sportskeeda MMA for all the latest news and updates on the event as it happens.