Jarred “The Monkey God” Brooks only has one goal in mind — to be the ONE Strawweight World Champion. So much so that he’s willing to do everything, even light a fire under the reigning titleholder Joshua “The Passion” Pacio, just to get what he wants.
“I don’t think he wants to fight me anytime really soon. I think he probably wants to fight me in July or something like that. But he can take as much time as he wants to prepare, like I said, I think I can beat Joshua Pacio right now,” Brooks said.
Brooks is riding high after his stellar unanimous decision win over Hiroba Minowa at ONE: ONLY THE BRAVE as the no. 3-ranked contender has definitely made a strong case at being the next in line for a title shot.
And he’s not waiting for anyone to tell him otherwise, directing sharp words towards the Filipino champion after the match as he continues to fan the flames and put Pacio on notice.
“He’s super tough, and I got to give him kudos for holding the belt as long as he has. But he’s gotten beat by people like [Yosuke] Saruta,” Brooks said.
“He has gotten better, don’t get me wrong, but I’m not Saruta and I’m not these other guys. Like I said in my rap, you can beat Lito Adiwang, Alex Silva, but guess what? I’m Jarred. I’m somebody that is willing to put my heart in my mouth on the line and I don’t say anything that I don’t do.”
“The Monkey God” has been on a tear since joining ONE Championship, rampaging through the strawweight division from his promotional debut win over Lito “Thunder Kid” Adiwang, where he scored a second-round submission win at ONE: NEXTGEN III back in November, to this dominant showing over Minowa to sustain his five-match win streak.
Through it all, the brash American admitted that he has kept a close watch on Pacio, and truth be told, he’s not impressed.
“I’ve watched a lot of other opponents that have fought Joshua. He got Alex Silva, I think that he’s somebody that is a perfect portrayal of what I am, but he’s a little bit less,” he said. “I think Josh has probably gotten a little bit better and he’s gonna be watching a lot of videos on me. But I think Joshua is deep down inside shitting himself.”
He continued: “I think that Josh knows why he should be afraid. He’s never fought another person like me inside of the Circle. I know that Josh has been watching me ever since I beat Lito, and I think he’s been watching me ever since I was in the UFC. So yeah, I think he should be worried. My tool belt is a little bit heavier than his, for sure.”
Nonetheless, Brooks understands that with Pacio being the champion, he has the luxury of knowing when he will return inside the ONE Circle.
He, however, couldn’t help but throw another barb at “The Passion.”
“If he isn’t ready to fight me, then why be the champion? You should be ready and you should be ready right now,” he stated.
“I can’t really stipulate on the reason why Joshua wouldn’t want to fight, but I know that Joshua wants to fight me. I think he wants to and I think he wants the smoke. So Joshua Pacio, let’s get it!”
