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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Jonathan Brookins had some experience with Zuffa before entering the Ultimate Fighter house for the 12th season. As a featherweight, Brookins competed in the WEC in 2008 against a pre-Champion Jose Aldo; but with the WEC eliminating a number of divisions and downsizing their roster at the end of that year, Brookins was let go from the organization.
Now, Brookins is on the verge of becoming the winner of the 12th season of The Ultimate Fighter in the lightweight division. However, with the UFC integrating the featherweight and bantamweight divisions from the UFC, Brookins isn't ruling out a return to his old division.
“I definitely always have a big spot in my heart for the 145 [lb. division], it will always be there," Brookins said on a conference call on Thursday. "I don't put on too much weight and I feel great at 155 lbs., I like it as well."
"I think each guy brings in a different skill set. When I go in to fight a 145er, I kind of look at them slightly different than the 155ers, and the 155ers definitely always bring a lot more strength to the table. So I've got to make sure I prepare for that.
Brookins said that the competition of the lightweight division is something that gives him an advantage when he goes back to featherweight for fights.
"I like competing with the 155ers," he said. "I feel like it only gives me an advantage when I go back down and fight the 145 [lb. fighters]."
Wherever he's going to fight, be it lightweight or featherweight, Brookins says that it's the UFC's call in that matter.
"I'm open to everything,” Brookins said. "I'm just going to go by the fights when they need me. If there's a good fight at [featherweight] and they call and say, 'hey we need you here,' I'll be there. If there's a fight at [lightweight] and they say, 'we need you there,' I'll be there."
His UFC journey begins on Saturday in Las Vegas, as he'll take on the #1 pick from Team GSP, Michael Johnson, to crown the 12th season's Ultimate Fighter winner.
Penick's Analysis: Regardless of where he fights in the UFC, he's an asset going forward after this season. He's a lot of fun to watch, he's a calm, confident fighter in his own right, and he's now had a chance for some rapid improvement in his game from working with Team GSP for six weeks on the show. He's non-committal to either weight class for a reason, because he'll be able to compete in either if the UFC he can make a run in the featherweight division. If he defeats Johnson and wants to make the drop, the UFC won't have a hard time eventually getting him into a rematch with Aldo down the line. It's only one of many possible paths for Brookins to take, but it could be an easy sell for the UFC with his time on this show.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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