Rivalries: Jarred Brooks

Jarred Brooks wants a piece of the One Championship strawweight pie.

“The Monkey God” will meet with significant resistance when he confronts surging Japanese prospect Koha Minowa in a three-round showcase at One Championship “Only the Brave” this Friday at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore. Brooks, who washed out of the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 2018, enters the cage on a three-fight winning streak. He last competed at One Championship “NextGen 3,” where he submitted Lito Adiwang with an arm-triangle choke 3:07 into the second round of his Oct. 29 promotional debut.

As Brooks makes final preparations for his forthcoming battle with the 22-year-old Minowa, a look at some of the rivalries that have helped shape his career:

Eric Shelton

Brooks made a successful Octagon debut and kept his perfect professional record intact by the narrowest of margins, as he was awarded a split verdict over the American Top Team rep in a UFC 214 prelim on July 29, 2017 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. All three judges struck 29-28 scorecards: Brandon Saucedo and Wade Vierra for Brooks, Guilherme Bravo for Shelton. Brooks was at his best in the first round, where he executed multiple takedowns and threatened with two guillotine chokes. Shelton never appeared to be in real danger and grew more effective over the final 10 minutes, as he integrated crisp right hands with a sharp jab. He buckled Brooks with a short right uppercut in the third round and connected with a glancing flying knee in the closing seconds, answering a subsequent takedown from his undefeated counterpart with a tight guillotine of his own. However, the remaining time ticked off the clock before he could coax the tap.

Deiveson Figueiredo

“Deus da Guerra” moved another step closer to relevance at 125 pounds when he took a split decision from Brooks in a three-round UFC Fight Night 119 prelim on Oct. 28, 2017 at Ibirapuera Gymnasium in Sao Paulo Brazil. Judges Phillipe Iorio and Dave Tirelli saw it 29-28 for Figueiredo, while the aforementioned Bravo dissented with a 30-27 nod for Brooks. “The Monkey God” delivered repeated takedowns but saw his progress slowed by Figueiredo’s active submission game. The Brazilian tested Brooks with one attempted guillotine after another and even made a pass at a kimura. Figueiredo was the vastly superior striker and exploited his opportunities on the feet, drilling his counterpart with clinch knees, right uppercuts, front kicks and right hooks to the body. Brooks was credited with seven takedowns and outlanded the Jungle Fight veteran by an 82-22 clip—he did the majority of his work on the ground—but the judges chose to side with damage and aggression over outright control.

Roberto Sanchez

Brooks rode two takedowns and more than eight minutes of control time to a contentious split verdict against the former Legacy Fighting Alliance champion in a UFC 228 prelim on Sept. 8, 2018 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. All three cageside judges scored it 29-28: Don Turnage for “Little Fury,” Chris Lee and Steve Armstrong for Brooks. Sanchez outlanded his counterpart by a 121-82 margin across the three-round affair, but he proved far less efficient and failed to excel in fight-altering moments. Brooks seized the reins in the third round, where he executed both of his takedowns and connected with 12 significant strikes while absorbing only one of them in return. The victory evened his record inside the Octagon at 2-2. Nevertheless, Brooks was released by the UFC two months later.

Haruo Ochi

The former House of Fame champion settled his score with Ochi when he laid claim to a unanimous decision in their Bellator 237 prelim on Dec. 29, 2019 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Their ill-fated first encounter some four months prior under the Rizin Fighting Federation banner had concluded with an incidental clash of heads after just 10 seconds. Ochi failed to reroute the American in the rematch. Brooks masked his intentions with a variety of spinning attacks and aerial assaults, but snuck in for takedowns in all three rounds, progressed to the onetime Deep titleholder’s back and fed him punches while simultaneously forcing him to defend rear-naked chokes. It was an exhausting exercise for Ochi. After absorbing a belly-to-back suplex late in the third round, the Japanese standout moved on a Hail Mary guillotine choke. Brooks appeared to be in moderate distress before freeing himself and riding out the remaining time in top position.