Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Meet... Jonathan Brookins


Jonathan Brookins 25, was born and raised in Portland Oregon where he grew up with his sister and 3 brothers. From a very early age he had a love for WWF (now WWE) and all things wrestling, however by age 10 it had slowly fizzled out. Four years later he was cut from the Century High School basketball team, the only sport he had any real interest in at the time. Having no other extra curricular activities, Jonathan would hangout with friends in the hallways after school, not exactly being a productive student. One day the wrestling coach approached him and said if he was going to be at school he might as well wrestle. Four years later Jonathan held the title of Oregon State Champion. “Making it to State was always pretty incredible because it was everything that you worked for. Its one thing to be best in the county but to make it to the State Tournament, to actually be the best in the whole state always seemed like a pretty big accomplishment”

Jonathan continued to wrestle up until junior year in college when he decided to move to Ocala, Florida to be with his family. A few weeks after moving he started hearing of a large mixed martial arts following in the city and became immediately interested. One day he met the owner of an MMA gym who invited him to go and check it out. With the wrestling background on his side, Jonathan found that he took to the newer fighting style with ease. The gym’s newest fighter began training in March and was approached with a wild card entry into a professional MMA fight in June. Jonathan knocked out his opponent in the first 17 seconds. “From then on, I just thought I would be a fighter.” Now holding a record of 11-3 and almost always excelling in every sport he tries, Jonathan has built up a fierce confidence that only gets stronger with every new experience. “Fighting has brought to my life a love for new activities and a love to better myself.”

One activity that has recently had a large impact on the fighter is rock climbing. Jonathan was in high school when he first tried out climbing in a bouldering gym. After not having any real interest in the sport, it wasn’t until about 14 months ago that he gave it a second thought. “It was way more challenging than I ever could have thought. As a kid I couldn’t grasp it but as I was older I could really see where the challenge and the fun of it was, and I’m just super in love with it. The improvement you get from that activity is crazy.”

Along with girlfriend Sophia Roe and best friend Misha Villanueva, he tries to climb at least 2-3 times a week, preferring top-roping to bouldering. “I like top-roping the best, but I have yet to fully embrace that world. I’m still very much a rookie. Really, really just gotta stress how rookie I am.” Before a fight Jonathan adds a bit more intensity to his workout, but for the most part everything remains the same as his day-to-day routine. Six days a week, his wakeup time is between 5-6 a.m. when he begins an 8-mile run. A short rest (including a lot of snacking) later, he heads up to Gracie Barra where he trains for about 3-4 hours. “The perfect day would be to end it with some rock climbing or yoga. That would be the perfect training day.” Future plans for the fighter include learning to surf, snowboard, sliding down slides, doing summersaults and one day opening his own gym.

You can catch Jonathan on Season 12 of The Ultimate Fighter, premiering September 15th on SpikeTV.
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30 comments:

  1. what a BAMF

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  2. UFC crap?? AAH-TOOOL!! sorry... i sneezed.

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  3. He really is a great guy, definitely not a stereotypical fighter.

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  4. The most humnble down to earth fighter you will ever meet. Not to mention a great friend.

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  5. John is one of the coolest/nicest people/fighter I've ever met.
    AJV

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  6. cant say ive ever met him.. and ftr tools are allowed to be nice people too! i only said that because of the UFC affiliation.. i bet he's a great guy, i just have an extreme disliking of anything UFC.

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  7. Jonathan is one of the nicest and most focused people I have ever had the good fortune to give birth to. His mom.

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  8. Jonathan is very nice to his Grandma Julie. He treats folks with respect. And, he is a damn good fighter!

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  9. great guy! talked to him once at the gym for a bit!

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  10. Jose Aldo likes him.

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  11. Jose Aldo liked your mom too.

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  12. Just watched you and choke out Magikan, that was a dirty suplex! Hope you and cody win the whole thing!

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  13. Quite the babe too..!

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  14. This guy has so much class!I look forward to following him in the future as he continues to excel and most likely be champ!

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  15. Like the fella as he is so level headed, down to earth, and seems nothing than a genuine person.
    Remain the same person as you are, keep praying and been the nice person you are.
    I know with the self discipline and the respect that you have for others you will win and become a champ of the future!

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  16. This dude is awesome! Love his suplex! Hope he wins all the way!

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  17. Man your awesome! keep up the work, your a hard worker and seem like such a nice guy. keep it real, respect.

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  18. i like him, i wouldn't mind trying to climb up on him.....

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  19. He is for sure not like his mother...he seems real down to earth and honest. A good fighter, but Gracey days are over in the UFC. Won't go all the way, has no "stand up".

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  20. Seems like a cool guy, some sick moves just hope he gets some standup. No point having to prove you've got a chin in every fight.

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  21. Big fan dude and congrats on winning The Ultimate Fighter!

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  22. Mad respect for Brookins! Dude is an absolute beast in the ring and seems like a cool cat outside it. Hope he has a long successful career...

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  23. he is a good fighter.
    i rooted for him from the start of the ultimate fighter. so happy he won.
    and he is gorgeous! so manly
    we're cheering for you on vancouver island!!

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  24. Loved the fight!! Jonathan has an iron jaw!! That boy took some nasty hits and kept going strong! I actually had to turn a cheek away at some of the hits!! Definitely going to follow his career! Besides GSP he is my new favorite UFC fighter!!! He is only going to get stronger and more technical and experienced and kick some ASS!!!!

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  25. your a great fighter congrats on winning you really deserved it i wanted you to win from the very beginning, i will definetly always be your number one fan .Goodluck with everything p.s your girlfriend is one lucky lucky women ;)

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  26. congrats J.B, jsut remember your number one rule. "DONT EVER FORGET WHO YOU ARE," and you will go far not only in the cage but in life as well. Good luck man!
    Mike Barnes

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  27. J.B. is down to earth, cool guy just met him over at Dancers Royal in Orlando, low key approachable person, most of the idiots there didn't even know who they were sitting next too.

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  28. Jonathan brookins is wrestler who plays in ring. A siren start in stadium and start. Cybercrime Guard Business Referee can be seen in match. He has won matches which had been played in different countries.

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