Jarred Brooks recently sat down to explain how he plans on defeating Mikey Musumeci at his own game at their upcoming title-fight. It’s undoubtedly going to be a difficult matchup for him, as he’s taking a break from his professional MMA career to face a grappling specialist in his own sport. The two champions have been booked for a match at ONE Fight Night 13 on August 4th, 2023 with Musumeci’s flyweight submission grappling title on the line.
Jarred Brooks is the reigning ONE Championship strawweight MMA world champion but he clearly recognizes that a grappling match with Mikey Musumei is a huge challenge. He sat down for a recent interview with ONE Championship and explained what he thinks a win against Musumeci would do for his career:
“Man, if I can beat Mikey Musumeci at his own game and beat him for the flyweight title, I think that I can start to call my own shots as far as doing these mixed-rules contests and stuff like that. I’m trying to take over ONE Championship. I put it all on the line every time. And it doesn’t matter who it is or who it’s up against. I’m going to show the whole world that nobody can face me and get out of there a winner.”
While Jarred Brooks obviously isn’t as technically proficient as Mikey Musumeci on the ground, he also thinks that he has other advantages instead and he plans on using them:
“I’m not really worried defensively. I’m defensively sound in an ankle lock as far as jiu-jitsu goes. So actually, what can Mikey do against somebody of my prowess? I think that I will be most successful on the feet. We’re starting on the feet, and it’s not like he can butt-scoot towards me. And I’m just going to be as athletic as possible. The dude doesn’t get really submitted. So the only way I see myself submitting him is getting something quick. My speed, my agility, and my athleticism are going to play a big factor in this.”
It’ll be interesting to see if Brooks is able to use his physical advantages to get the better of his exchanges with Musumeci. Not only does he plan on making the most of every advantage he might have, Jarred Brooks also wants to turn the match into something that Mikey Musumeci might not be prepared for:
“He’s known as the best grappler of all time. So I think that he’s good everywhere. When he grabs onto something, you’ve got to make sure that you’re twisting out of it quick, making sure that your knee line gets out of his hip line. So they’re the things that I’m looking at as far as what Mikey has advantages in, but I’m telling you, I’ve got a lot of surprises up my sleeve. I’m not doing a jiu-jitsu match. He calls this a match. I’m fighting with this kid. I’m turning a jiu-jitsu match into a fight.”
