Former Bellator MMA King Will Brooks Eyeing Championships in Professional Fighters League

The next chapter in former Bellator MMA lightweight champion Will Brooks’ mixed martial arts career lies in Professional Fighters League. Brooks will make his debut at PFL 2 on Thursday at the Chicago Theater at Chicago, as he faces Luiz Firmino. The league features a seasonal and playoff format in which fighters will compete for a $1 million championship prize.

Brooks made news in 2016 when he vacated the Bellator lightweight title and entered the Ultimate Fighting Championship as one of its most hotly-anticipated signings in years. That UFC run ended in disappointment, as Brooks won his debut fight then left the UFC on a three-fight losing skid. Speaking to “Beatdown” on the Sherdog Radio Network, Brooks claims that his main goal is to get back on the winning track.

“I want to get back to winning,” Brooks said. “You need to get back on track, get back to winning for your family, get back to winning for yourself because you’re born to win, you’re born to compete at a high level.”

When asked about the experience of working with different fight leagues, Brooks says that he looks forward to using it in order to help PFL grow into one of the major MMA organizations in the world.

"I'm so blessed and so grateful for the opportunity I had and I look forward to working with the PFL and taking all I've learned from my previous organizations and bring it over here, and help this new regime in the process they're trying to go in."

Talking about his approach to his upcoming fights, Brooks stated that the strategy for the seasonal format is to develop a game plan that addresses all of the component skills of MMA, and be able to go through the season and playoffs in a healthy way, both physically and mentally. After the regular season, he plans to regroup with his team to evaluate and rethink that game plan, with a focus on the playoffs and championship.

PFL 2 will air live on Thursday, June 21 on NBCSN.