Advertisement

Skidding Will Brooks talks mindset heading into PFL 2 headliner: 'Winning solves everything'

[jwplayer A4UfCYbw-FLu19iir]

Considering PFL’s regular season awards fighters not only for winning, but for how they win, it’s quite obvious that the fighters looking for No. 1 seeds in the playoff tournament structure could use a finish.

Former Bellator champion Will Brooks (18-4), who headlines Thurday’s PFL 2 event against Luiz Firmino (20-8), understands the dynamics that come with this unique point-oriented format. He also understands that, in MMA, “everybody wants to see the finish.”

On the lightweight’s end, though, the focus remains the same.

“I haven’t put too much energy into (the format) because my mindset is always to go out there and fight my fight,” Brooks told MMAjunkie Radio. “Just take it five seconds at a time, and just get the job done. Because, again, winning solves everything.”

We’re not sure about everything, but a win on Thursday would mean a few things for Brooks. Not only would he get, at least, three points in the tournament, but also a chance to snap out of a serious funk. For the first time in his career, the lightweight enters a bout riding a three-fight losing skid. All of those defeats took place in the UFC, after a unanimous-decision win over Ross Pearson in his highly anticipated promotional debut.

As far as career de tours go, Brooks’ was as unpleasant as it was abrupt. As he made his first UFC octagon entrance, in July 2016, Brooks had not only conquered Bellator’s 155-pound crown but also defended it twice. Up until that point, he had a single career loss.

Once he moved on the UFC, though, his previous accolades meant little; his competition certainly didn’t take notice of them, and the three consecutive finish losses the ex-champ suffered can attest to it.

All that was left was Brooks, too, to stop holding on to them.

“I think I’ve tried to put too much energy into that mindset, like, ‘I beat the best guys and I beat some of the best guys; I’ve been at the top of one of the best organizations in mixed martial arts, and I did all this, and I did all that,’” Brooks said. “I just blinded myself with the things I had created for myself and didn’t focus on the things that I wanted to create in the future. …

“I’m all of that still. I’m still a champion-caliber fighter. I’m still a guy that was just born to win. I just need to get my mind right and stay consistent and be aware of where I’m at at the time.”

That’s where Brooks says he is now. While he is the headliner of Thursday’s NBCSN-televised main card at Chicago Theater, Brooks is not a champion of anything heading into it. He’s just another lightweight, looking to advance to the playoffs in hopes of being crowned season winner and making $1 million in the process.

Where he’s been before that, as he’s learned very recently, won’t really matter to the men standing across the cage from him – be it at his current PFL home or wherever he ends up in whatever time he still has left in his MMA career.

“The time you put into this idea of, ‘I was here and I was here and I was doing this and things just didn’t go the way I want’ – the time you put into that is the time you need to be putting into the gym,” Brooks said. “My mindset is just being out here and doing the best I possibly can do for Professional Fighters League. And really just try to make sure I just get back to winning, period. …

“I don’t care where. I don’t care when. I don’t care name of the organization. I don’t care the label. I don’t care the group of guys who run the organization. I don’t care. I just want to get back to winning, and that’s bottom line my mindset right now.”

For more on PFL 2, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.

MMAjunkie Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia, Brian “Goze” Garcia and Dan Tom. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.

[sigallery id=”9seo3dyYgaQq2mGKNpQzLW” title=”Will Brooks” type=”sigallery”]

Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.

More News