Jarred Brooks is no longer in the UFC, but he still has the same goal he had during his Octagon run: a fight against Demetrious Johnson.
When Brooks signed with the UFC early last year, Johnson was the promotion’s flyweight champion. Every flyweight, including Brooks, wanted to fight him, because he had what every flyweight wanted — the belt — and had reigned over the division ever since it was introduced to the UFC in 2012.
Today, neither Brooks nor Johnson are UFC fighters. In fact, the flyweight division’s days in the UFC may be numbered, too. The UFC is reportedly planning to get rid of the entire weight class, with some of its fighters moving up to bantamweight, and others getting cut. The UFC opted not to re-sign Brooks (whose contract came to an end when he beat Roberto Sanchez at UFC 228 in September) in light of the division’s demise, while Johnson, who lost the title to Henry Cejudo in August, was recently traded to ONE Championship for Ben Askren.
Coincidentally, Brooks wanted to fight Johnson in the UFC, and now he wants to fight him outside of the UFC. Without giving an exact timeframe, Brooks said he hopes a fight against “Mighty Mouse” is lined up at one point or another, as he believes Johnson is still the MMA pound-for-pound king.
“I want to market myself to fight Demetrious,” Brooks told Bloody Elbow. “I feel like I’m that much closer to fighting him now.
“Demetrious is the golden goose. Why wouldn’t you want to fight Demetrious Johnson? I think that I’m a perfect matchup for him. You got people like Ray Borg stepping in against him and going five rounds — I would beat the brakes off Ray Borg right now.”
Brooks said he expects to sign with an Asian promotion, but wouldn’t say which one. Nothing is official as of yet, Brooks said, adding that he plans to compete as both a flyweight and strawweight. Brooks has fought three times as a 115-pound fighter; he walks around at about 126 pounds, barely cutting weight for flyweight bouts.
“I’m going to bring the noise,” Brooks said. “Every fight I’ve tried to sell. Being at the bottom of the bottom like you are, it’s hard to do that. In Asia, it’s gonna be a lot easier. You’re gonna have people that actually respect mixed martial arts and the lighter weights.”
The first flyweight title fight not involving Johnson takes place Jan. 26 at UFC 233: champ Cejudo against bantamweight titleholder T.J. Dillashaw in a superfight of sorts. Cejudo vs. Dillashaw could be the last flyweight fight in the UFC, but Brooks doesn’t think that’s a good way to say goodbye to the division whatsoever.
“It’s kind of spitting on the flyweights’ faces when you have somebody who’s never fought at flyweight (fighting for the title),” Brooks said. … “It kind of makes me sick.
“When it comes down to Henry, he just wants to make that money fight at 125, and then he wants to move up to 135.”
Brooks said the UFC is getting rid of the flyweight division — and not letting some fighters move up to bantamweight — ultimately because it can do what whatever it wants.
“These guys have a bit too much pull in our sport, and they act like their sh-t doesn’t stink,” Brooks said. … “This sport is very cutthroat. When you have three guys together, and they all have one objective, they don’t give a sh-t about the other people; they care about what’s in that little group.”
That said, Brooks is remaining optimistic. He predicted the UFC will bring back the division within four years.
“You’re gonna have some of the best marketable fighters in the world, and people are gonna start to open their eyes and realize what mixed martial arts is,” he said. “If you take away something, then people are gonna start appreciating it a little bit more.”
Brooks said there has always been marketable fighters in the division, but the UFC prevented them from ever turning into stars by doing things such as putting the majority of flyweight fights on preliminary cards. Now that a large amount of elite flyweights will be competing outside the UFC, fans — and the UFC — will realize the division does have some potential.
“They didn’t allow us to make that noise,” Brooks said. “There’s plenty of killers at 125. They didn’t want us to [be on] a pedestal.
“The flyweights are free now. We can show people all around the world what we’re about, and not have that tight hold (from the UFC).”
As for the legacy of the flyweight division, it’s Johnson — definitely not “f-ck face” Cejudo and Dillashaw — Brooks said. Oh, and himself; Brooks said he plans on being the face of the division down the road.
“Sky is the limit for me,” Brooks said. “I got offers from everywhere. We’re gonna be fighting in Asia, and we’re gonna be stomping people.”