ONE strawweight champion Jarred “The Monkey God” Brooks. Handout/ONE Championship.
If things fall into place, ONE strawweight champion Jarred “The Monkey God” Brooks would love a mega-fight against ONE flyweight champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson.
The confident American has long angled for a rematch against Filipino superstar Joshua “The Passion” Pacio, but if that doesn’t happen in the near future he wants a showdown with his compatriot – someone who he said he actually looks up to.
“DJ is the main fight, period. I have nothing but respect for him. The way that I have been calling out, it can seem like it is disrespectful, but you’ve got to sell fights too,” he said.
“I have nothing but love for DJ, but as far as us fighting, man, I’m here to kill you, bro. You’re literally the person I looked up to, and if I’ve gotta put the sword in you, I’ll be that person.”
Brooks is confident that should they meet in the cage, Johnson has little-to-no chance of stopping him.
“The Monkey God” has been on a reign of terror in ONE Championship, winning all four of his fights in impressive fashion, beating the who’s who of the loaded 125-pound weight class.
According to Brooks, the only chance that Johnson has to beat him is by early knockout, and after spending a considerable amount of time with knockout artists like Lito Adiwang and Joshua Pacio, that seems unlikely.
If the match goes into deeper rounds, Brooks believes he can take a win over Johnson.
“I have plans for all of [the opponents I might face] and ways to beat them. I mean, it’s either you’re going to catch me with something that is out of the blue, like a one-in-ten chance, or you’re gonna get beat by me,” he said.
“You’re going to have to knock me out in the first round or something. So if it’s in the second round or third round, I don’t care if it is Demetrious Johnson. I believe in myself that much. And the people that don’t believe me, you just gotta wait and see.”