It didn’t take the UFC long to sign Bellator lightweight champion Will Brooks following his surprise release from the promotion, but with this signing the UFC adds another title contender to its ultra-competitive 155-pound division.
Brooks (18-1) was on an eight-fight winning streak including two victories over Bellator’s now-current lightweight champ Michael Chandler. His release was definitely not due to his performance, though, and he is arriving in the UFC at an opportune time.
For his first test, he was matched with longtime gatekeeper Ross Pearson, who has been with the UFC since winning The Ultimate Fighter 9 back in 2009. Pearson has alternated wins and losses in his last eight fights and is coming off a split decision victory over Canadian Chad Laprise in March. It’s an appropriate test for Brooks to determine the legitimacy of his contender status.
Brooks doesn’t have a high-level wrestling pedigree nor is he a black belt in any particular discipline. Instead, he’s a natural athlete who participated in many sports like wrestling and football in high school. When he discovered MMA in college he quickly excelled and made his professional debut in 2011.
In just two years, he was in Bellator where he quickly ascended the ranks despite a knockout loss to Saad Awad in his second fight in the promotion. Early in his Bellator career he was raw and still putting together his striking and wrestling but he was strong and tenacious. Even when his endurance waned against Chandler in their first fight, he kept the fight close on sheer instinct and will.
This kind of steely resolve is shared by another former Bellator champion, Eddie Alvarez.
Alvarez is challenging Rafael dos Anjos for the lightweight title a day before Brooks makes his UFC debut. Like Brooks, Alvarez left Bellator as an outgoing champion. He had a hiccup against Donald Cerrone in his debut fight but rebounded in emphatic fashion by defeating former Strikeforce champion Gilbert Melendez and former UFC/WEC champion Anthony Pettis in back-to-back bouts. Alvarez didn’t fight the most entertaining fights but he came back strong despite being hurt early against Melendez and used his tactical wrestling to neutralize the dangerous Pettis.
Brooks possesses these traits and then some. He is strong in the clinch and has solid enough MMA wrestling to handle pretty much anyone in the division not named Khabib Nurmagomedov in that regard. That, combined with his sharp fight IQ, means Brooks should be able to hold his own against anyone at 155 pounds right now.
In his fight against Marcin Held, a dangerous submission artist, Brooks suffered a knee injury yet still controlled and dominated the Polish fighter for majority of the fight. Against Dave Jansen, Brooks kept his composure and showed his toughness when “The Fugitive” came at him aggressively. And, in his second fight against Chandler, Brooks put on a clinic by outwrestling the former NCAA Division 1 All-American and landing a ridiculous suplex. He finished him in the fourth round with strikes, the first and only time Chandler has been stopped in his career.
Brooks has all the tools needed to be a legitimate contender in this deep division. But first he has to beat Pearson but and do it emphatically. “Ill Will” has always fought with a chip on his shoulder so impressing UFC fans in his big debut should come naturally to the UFC’s latest marquee signing.
