"I do want to send a message" - Jarred Brooks wants to keep the fight standing against Masunyane to prove a point

Jarred Brooks is slated to face his toughest opponent yet, the undefeated South African Bokang Masunyane. Scheduled to be a part of ONE: Eersel vs. Sadikovic, the strawweight bout may determine the next challenger for the belt.

Making the rounds in the MMA media to promote his fight, Jarred Brooks spoke to Tarps Off Sports to discuss what he thinks of his opponent.

Brooks delivered back-to-back verbal jabs at his opponent:

"You know, he [Masunyane] is the kind of guy that will come in like, he does these short little movements and then he tries to spint in, come in and take the back. You know what I'm saying? He's like an old freestyle wrestler. And everybody's calling him a striker now, which makes no sense. Every one of his fights, he has ONE finish. And that's against Rene Catalan, and he's 43 years old. He's 43. No disrespect to Rene. Rene is a badass. He's killed the game of Wushu for a very long time, he got to fight for the title, I get it."

Brooks, however, doesn't discount the fact that Masunyane has power and has proven it inside the Circle:

"And he [Masunyane] knocked him [Catalan] out in spectacular fashion. Don't get me wrong. He did a good job. But I mean, bro, you got one finish and everybody's calling him the striker and me the grappler? What in the hell is going on right now? That's what makes me want to come out and just knock him the f*** out. I do want to send a message to Bokang and all his fans... you guys are gonna get it. I'm gonna come out and gonna try to just knock the breaks off of Bokang and I'm gonna knock the breaks off the strawweight division and then we will move up to flyweight and we'll see where it goes from there."

Big words for the strawweight there. Jarred Brooks has primarily achieved success in the cage by way of his world-class wrestling and unbelievable top control. We are yet to see 'The Monkey God' explore his stand-up game on the big stage.

Perhaps this fight with 'Little Giant' will reveal the seemingly underrated stand-up game of 'The Monkey God'.

Watch the full interview here:

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"If you can stop my takedown, then you're going to have to deal with my hands" - Jarred Brooks on his underrated striking game

Insistent that he is not a one-dimensional wrestler-turned-fighter, Jarred Brooks made it clear that his wrestling is just one facet of his game.

In the same interview, Brooks discussed the threat he poses on the feet:

"I want people to realize that when they step up in the cage, it is mixed martial arts. So there's assets and forms into mixed martial arts just like any other fight. So... if you can stop my takedown, then you're going to have to deal with my hands. And if you do get taken down and you can negate any kind of submission, you're still going to have to deal with my hands. At the end of the day, that's what the fight's about. So, pretty much at the end of the day, [it's about] making sure that I can show every portion or facet of my mixed martial arts."

There might be some truth to what Jarred Brooks is saying. He did knock Hiroba Minowa down with a right hand in his last outing. The threat of his grappling prowess opens opponents up to his heavy hands. We might just see him explore this strategy more in the future.