Fourth-ranked strawweight Hiroba Minowa believes that he has the necessary skills to defeat third-ranked Jarred “The Monkey God” Brooks when they clash at ONE: ONLY THE BRAVE this Friday, January 28, at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
The soft-spoken 23-year-old finally broke his silence after the American teased him all over social media and tweeted a rap song about him.
Brooks crashed into the ONE Championship scene with a second-round submission of Lito “Thunder Kid” Adiwang. While that finish was impressive, Minowa said Brooks’ ground game is perfect against the Filipino’s fighting style. However, the Saitama native pointed out that the American’s ground game won’t work against him.
“In terms of the compatibility between Adiwang and Brooks, I think Adiwang was unlikely to win [their fight]. On the other hand, my style can work well against an opponent like Brooks if I get into it. If there’s a style to beat Brooks, it’s Minowa’s style,” Minowa told ONEFC.com.
“What I’m better at is my mixed martial arts ability. If you look at wrestling, grappling, striking, and physicality as individual skills, he’s probably better than me. But I’m stronger in my ability to combine them and make them work together. If you look at my last two fights, you can see that.
In addition to my newaza (ground fighting) skills, I think I’m stronger in striking, escaping, pounding, and other combinations of techniques. In terms of mixed martial arts, I think I’m the better fighter.”
Minowa is no pushover on the ground game, as eight of his 13 MMA wins were by submission. His fists can also be a cause of concern for Brooks, given that he also has three TKOs to his name.
That’s why the competitor from STF is confident that Brooks can be his next victim.
“There are several ways, but I think I’ll win by ippon (submission) in the third round,” Minowa predicted.
“I think I’ll win by split decision, even if I have a tough time. If there is some luck involved, I may win by KO. I may be able to win by ippon in the first round.”
When he’s done with Brooks, Minowa eyes a showdown with ONE Strawweight World Champion Joshua “The Passion” Pacio and hopes to take the belt home.
“I think the winner deserves to fight Pacio. If we’re talking about the title, we’re the challengers.”
Catch the Brooks-Minowa fight at ONE: ONLY THE BRAVE on One Sports+ beginning with the lead card on January 28 at 6:30 p.m. Philippine Standard Time (PHT). The main card will be available on ONE Sports and ONE Sports+ starting at 8:30 p.m. PHT.
The entire event is also accessible via the ONE Super App and ONE’s official YouTube channel.