Brooks tells ONE title contenders ‘keep calling my name, I’ll shut you up’

Jarred Brooks knows he has his hands full with flyweight ONE submission grappling champion Mikey Musumeci on Saturday morning in Bangkok.

But the strawweight MMA king insisted he is “not running away” from the contenders in his own division – far from it.

“Keep on calling my name and I will shut you up and put you to sleep, period,” he said during an interview with the Post. “I want to fight all of you. You need to shut the f*** up and we’ll fight.”

Former champion Joshua Pacio – whom Brooks beat in Manila last December to claim the title – has called for a rematch, as has another of the American’s former opponents in Bokang Masunyane of South Africa.

There is also fresh blood awaiting “The Monkey God” in the top five of the divisional rankings, in the form of Cuba’s Gustavo Balart, and Russian newcomer Mansur Malachiev.

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“All these guys are saying that I am running from a fight,” Brooks added after Friday’s ONE Fight Night 13 ceremonial weigh-ins and face-offs.

“I am telling you right now, I will not run from any of you. If you guys keep on calling me out on Instagram, I will come to Russia, I will come to South Africa, I will come to Cuba, and I will come to the Philippines, and I will beat your ass myself. It doesn’t matter. I’m tired of all of you telling me that I am afraid of a fight.

“It doesn’t show I’m afraid of anything going up against Mikey Musumeci at his own game. I’m so tired of Mansur. I want to fight him next please – give me that guy in Dagestan, in his own country. I’m gonna beat him in front of everybody.”

The 30-year-old Brooks said he hoped by taking on the challenge of facing compatriot Museumeci, who is undefeated in ONE, he can prove he is “fearless with anything”.

“If I even make it out of this 10 minutes unscathed it’s a huge win for me,” Brooks admitted.

“Mikey in his own right is the best of all time in my opinion in submission grappling. If someone gave me the opportunity to go against Michael Jordan one-on-one, I would. So I really think this opportunity is huge for me.

“The way I beat Mikey is just be aggressive, fast, and use my strength abilities against him. If I’m able to get Mikey’s head, which I know he doesn’t like, that would be a huge thing for me.”

The two men eschewed the usual face-off dramatics and shared a playful tussle on stage at the Cielo Rooftop Skybar in Bangkok on Friday morning.

Decorated wrestler Brooks shot for a single leg, with the 27-year-old Italian-American Musumeci putting him in a headlock – and also gifting him some of his favourite pasta.

“I love Mikey, I love his family,” Brooks added. “But I’m not afraid of Mikey and when we were facing off I could see a little tremble in his lip.

“Hopefully that gives me a little bit of an advantage. I know I’m at huge disadvantage but I’m going to prove to each and every one of you doubters I am the best at anything that I put my mind to.”