Former ONE Strawweight MMA World Champion Jarred “The Monkey God” Brooks hopes to get some love from his so-called Filipino kuyas when he returns to ONE Championship this Saturday, Aug. 3. 

As he waits for divisional king Joshua “The Passion” Pacio to heal up, the top-ranked contender will compete for the ONE Interim Strawweight MMA World Title against ranked No. 3 Gustavo “El Gladiador” Balart at ONE Fight Night 24 on Saturday, Aug. 3 inside Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. 

Brooks has been embroiled in a rivalry of sorts with Pinoys, starting with the aforementioned Pacio and Lito Adiwang – but his connection to the country runs deeper than that. 

The American revealed that his mother was once married to a Filipino, which had some influence on him for over a decade. 

“She’s not necessarily my grandmother now, but my mom was married into a Filipino family and my grandma is Filipino, literally since I was five to 16,” Brooks said. 

“She was my grandma Myrna. I have a lot of love for my family and anybody that wants to come and support me. If you don’t [support me], try to watch me lose.” 

Though Brooks has had a love-hate relationship with the country, he appreciates all the attention that he’s been getting from Filipino fans since jumping onto the scene. 

He’s received some heat from some, but Brooks is certainly enjoying all the love that he’s been getting from the more hardcore fan base who understand that it’s just pure business. 

“People love me or they hate me. But I think that if people hate me, you still have a little love for me, and if you love me that much, you want to find a reason to hate me,” Brooks said. 

“I love all my kuyas. All the support that I can get, that’s all that matters. The people who support me, I love you to death. You’re my family no matter where you are in the world.”

For now, Brooks can rest easy knowing that in this fight, he’ll get support from his Filipino fans who – like him – are also hoping to see a trilogy fight between him and Pacio. 

“Love all you guys and I hope to get your support, that would be amazing. If not, then we’ll just run it back whenever we fight in the Philippines and you get to cheer on your boys and see if I lose,” he said. 

“Gustavo is out of the question, and people do really want to see me against Joshua again. And I think I have developed a lot of Filipino support from the kuyas.”