Back to the MMA Newsfeed

Bellator champ Will Brooks plans to pursue free agency: 'I want to move on to my next goal'

Will Brooks has spent the better part of four years working towards one goal: becoming the Bellator lightweight champion. In 2014, he succeeded, taking a split decision over Michael Chandler to capture the Bellator interim title, then cementing his reign with a fourth-round knockout of Chandler in the rematch. Back-to-back title defenses over tournament winners Dave Jansen and Marcin Held have since strengthened his standing as one of the top lightweights in the world.

And now Brooks is ready to move on to his next professional challenge.

"I'm going to be honest with everybody, when I first got into this sport, I wanted to be a UFC lightweight champion," Brooks said Monday on The MMA Hour.