Willie Love Brooks[3] (born October 8, 1986) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Lightweight division.
[5][1] However, he let go of his dreams of playing in the NFL after sustaining a knee injury, which led to partying, substance abuse and eventually drug dealing.
[7] During his time in Harper, he met an old friend from high school in Nick Redding, who ended up changing the course of his life to MMA.
He competed exclusively in his native Illinois and quickly amassed an undefeated record of 7-0 in the first two years of his career.
In late 2012, Brooks received the biggest opportunity of his career as he was invited to Japan by the DREAM organization.
Following his impressive international debut, Brooks was quickly signed by Bellator Fighting Championships in January 2013.
He faced Ricardo Tirloni in the opening round at Bellator 87 and won the fight via unanimous decision.
[21] Brooks made his first title defense against long-awaited challenger Dave Jansen at Bellator 136 on April 10, 2015.
[33] However the pairing was scrapped during the weigh-ins for the event, as Lentz was stricken with "medical issues" and deemed unfit to compete.
[36] On February 14, 2018, Brooks announced via social media that he had been officially released from the UFC after a 4 fight stint.
[37] Following his departure from the UFC, Brooks announced he had signed a deal with the Professional Fighters League and he would be entering the promotion's one million dollar tournament.
[43] In the end of January 2019, Brooks announced in social media that he became a free agent after the inaugural season of PFL.
[45] He lost the fight via first-round submission, tho the stoppage was controversial as the ref mistakenly thought Brooks was unconscious.
[51] He won the fight via TKO due to injury after Bastos broke his leg early in the first round.