American fighter Jarred Brooks believes that battling Lito Adiwang of Team Lakay would put him in the Top 5 list of the strawweight division.
"He's in the top five and he seems like a gatekeeper in the division right now. So yeah, I think that meeting him would actually put me in the top five," said Brooks ahead of their main event clash in ONE: NEXTGEN III on Nov. 26 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Brooks already expressed both gratitude and excitement to Adiwang, saying that facing the Team Lakay stalwart is the best way to kick off his ONE Championship career.
Aside from being in the Top 5, the former UFC fighter is eyeing no less than the strawweight belt currently held by Adiwang's teammate, Joshua Pacio.
"People are saying that he's (Adiwang) like a boogeyman or something like that. But yeah, I'm excited to fight him and I'm excited to show everybody that I can be the king of the division," said Brooks, who holds a.
"I did research on a lot of the fighters and I do extensive research. And I am definitely up it when it comes down to knowing who the fighters are before I fight them," he said.
READ: Sangiao not underestimating Brooks ahead of Adiwang bout
Brooks also made another comparison to both Igorot warriors.
READ: Brooks picks Adiwang over Pacio
For the ONE newcomer, Adiwang displays "a little bit more" explosiveness than Pacio and is currently the "scarier" fighter in terms of him being at risk inside the Circle.
Both Brooks (16-2) and Adiwang (13-3) are coming off a two-match win streak.
The main difference is that the American warrior last saw action December 2019 while Adiwang has been active in the Circle with the recent win against Chinese veteran Hexigetu last September.