“Going to be rough” - Jarred Brooks expects Kade Ruotolo to fend off a tough challenge from Mikey Musumeci at ONE 168: Denver

Former ONE strawweight MMA world champion Jarred Brooks sees lightweight submission grappling king Kade Ruotolo successfully defending his title against Mikey Musumeci in their all-champion clash in Denver, Colorado, U.S.A, in September.

Ruotolo will defend the lightweight submission gold for the fourth time, this time against the sport's flyweight titleholder Musumeci at ONE 168: Denver on Sept. 8.

It is part of the stacked card being assembled for ONE Championship's second live on-ground event in the United States, following ONE Fight Night 10 in May last year, which was played to a sold-out 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado.

In an interview with Sportskeeda MMA, Brooks shared his take on the marquee grappling title showdown, underscoring that while Ruotolo will not have it easy, in the end, he will still pull off a victory.

'The Monkey God' said:

"I can't sleep on Mikey, and if he gets a leg, then it's really going to be rough for Kade. But Kade and his brother, they have come out with literal seminar DVDs and s**t on how to get away from Mikey's stuff. So super interesting. I don't see a clear winner, but if I was a betting man, I would go with Kade."

Watch the interview below:

Jarred Brooks challenged for the ONE flyweight submission grappling world title against Musumeci last August but lost by way of submission midway into their title clash.

ONE 168: Denver will emanate from Ball Arena and tickets are now available on Ticketmaster.

---

Jarred Brooks looking forward to trilogy fight with Joshua Pacio

American fighter Jarred Brooks lost the ONE strawweight MMA world title to Filipino rival Joshua Pacio by way of disqualification back in March. He is now looking to redeem himself in a trilogy fight at some point in the future.

'The Monkey God' was disqualified after committing an unintentional illegal spike in the opening round of his title rematch against 'The Passion' at ONE 166: Qatar. The move saw Pacio hit his head and neck first into the canvas, which automatically earned a DQ.

Brooks regretted what happened and has apologized personally to Pacio, who stayed in the hospital overnight and was diagnosed with a neck sprain.

Given what took place in their last fight, the 31-year-old Indiana native wants to put an end to his rivalry with Pacio and settle things once and for all in a trilogy contest.

He took to Instagram and said:

"I'm ready when @joshuapacio says [so]. @yodchatri told me after a fight he doesn't want me to be another Jonny Hendrix, he wants me to be a reigning champion, and I want to prove that."

Jarred Brooks, however, has to wait for some time as Pacio is out definitely because of an ACL tear in his right knee.

The two first met in December 2022, with Brooks taking the ONE strawweight MMA world title by way of unanimous decision.