Bellator Champ Will Brooks Believes He’s Too Much for One-Dimensional Marcin Held

For his first defense of the Bellator lightweight championship, “Ill” Will Brooks had a tougher assignment than expected in April when he faced top contender Dave Jansen.

Over the course of five rounds, Brooks was able to get the better of his opponent, earning a hard fought unanimous decision victory.

“I thought I was going to be able to go out there, impose my will and get it done,” Brooks told MMAWeekly.com. “I hit (Jansen) with a lot of different strikes, a lot of hard shots, and wobbled his legs, and I thought for sure I was going to put him out, but he stood strong and he battled through it. We had a brawl.”

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Brooks feels that at times he wasn’t as aggressive as he could have been, leading to the fight to continue longer than it probably should have.

“I’ve just got to be able to see opportunities,” he said. “I should have jumped on opportunities when I had them, and let them slip away, so it’s something I’m going to learn from, grow from, and move on.”

Brooks (16-1) will have the second defense of his 155-pound title when he takes on Marcin Held (21-3) in the co-main event of Bellator 145 on Friday in St. Louis.

“I think that I’m a well-rounded fighter,” said Brooks. “I’m explosive and powerful, just everything that Marcin isn’t. He’s got one dimension. That’s just what he has. I respect that, but I’m just too much for him and I don’t think he’ll be able to handle what I bring to cage.”

Not only does Brooks feel his skills are enough to win the bout, he also thinks he’ll be able to use what Jansen did to defeat Held in 2013 to his advantage.

“I’ve watched the video and I’ve watched for weaknesses and openings and things like that,” said Brooks. “I saw some things that Jensen did really well that helped him get that W, so I’ll try to go out there and try to implement some of the things he was able to do.”

Though he’s a champion now, Brooks continues to push himself to achieve more in the coming year and lay claim to being the undisputed best fighter in the lightweight division.

“When I first got into this sport I wanted to be the best, and now that I’ve accomplished that, I’ve got to continue to make goals,” he said. “I’m still looking for more finishes. That’s something I’m really pushing for. I continue to try to evolve, make goals, and get better.”