Jarred “The Monkey God” Brooks has his undivided attention on his clash with Hiroba Minowa at ONE: ONLY THE BRAVE on Friday, January 28, at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Ever since the #3-ranked contender came into ONE Championship, he has been feuding with Team Lakay by calling out ONE Strawweight World Champion Joshua “The Passion” Pacio and scoring a victory over Lito “Thunder Kid” Adiwang.
While he still targets a future showdown with Pacio, the American knows it would not be wise to underestimate the Japanese man, who’s one spot lower in the strawweight contender rankings.
“Everybody looks over Hiroba, man. Hiroba is a tough, tough, tough kid. I am not going to sit here and say that I’m just going to run past him and, ‘What’s up, Josh, we’re gonna get it,’ you know,” Brooks told ONEFC.com.
“I think that Hiroba is probably the best in the division besides [#1 contender] Bokang [Masunyane]. So yeah, I’m more focused on him right now than Joshua.
“But yeah, Josh, of course, I am coming for you.”
Brooks is not out of the woods against Minowa.
The Team STF standout comes in this match with a 13-2 record and a six-fight win streak. Eleven of his wins were early finishes, eight of which were via submission.
That’s why the outspoken Brooks has nothing but great things to say about his future opponent.
“Hiroba’s probably super excited for this fight. He doesn’t seem like he’s the type to post on social media and stuff like that. It seems like he tries to harness a lot of energy and express it out at one time,” the Michigan-based competitor said.
“He throws pretty straight punches when he wants to throw. He’s not a bad boxer. He has a high chin, just a little bit. On the ground, he’s great. He has fast takedowns, super efficient, defensively sound. He definitely has a lot of great qualities that I see in myself as a grappler as well.
“I see a lot of great qualities in a fighter in him. He doesn’t get enough recognition.”
While he holds his foe in high regard, Brooks doesn’t have second thoughts about the outcome.
The wrestler from Mash Fight Team isn’t promising anything fast or fancy but plans to teach his adversary some tricks of the trade.
“Every fighter wants to knock that guy out and get them out in the first round, in the first 30 seconds. That’s cool. I mean, I would really, really enjoy doing that. But there’s 15 minutes, so you’ve got to play with what time can give you, or what your opponent can give you,” Brooks shared.
“That young kid won’t get tired, in my opinion. I think that he’s just going to get pounded. He’s just going to get big brothered in there. That’s how I look at it.
“He’s a young kid. I got to give him some butt spankings—you know what I’m saying?”
Catch Brooks and Minowa fight at ONE: ONLY THE BRAVE on January 28 on One Sports+ beginning with the lead card at 6:30 p.m. Philippine Standard Time (PHT). The main card will be available on ONE Sports and ONE Sports+ starting at 8:30 p.m. PHT.
ONE Championship’s second offering for 2022 will also be available via the ONE Super App and ONE’s official YouTube channel.