There should be a certain measure of familiarity for Jonathan Brookins on Friday night when the winner of the 12th season of The Ultimate Fighter makes his way to the Octagon at the Pearl at the Palms in Las Vegas to take on Charles Oliveira in a featherweight bout.
After all, it was in that same building where Brookins defeated Michael Johnson to win a six-figure UFC contract and gain a huge boost of momentum heading into the next step in his professional MMA career.
Of course, it's been a year and a half, and that momentum has been slowed somewhat. First, there was the eye injury that took him out of his scheduled post-TUF debut - as fate would have it, another TUF finale bout at the Pearl against Jeremy Stephens - and then, when Brookins did finally make it back to the Octagon, there was a loss to Erik Koch that saw him thoroughly outclassed by the Iowa native, who is scheduled to challenge Jose Aldo for the UFC Featherweight Championship in July at UFC 149.
Now, though, after defeating Vagner Rocha earlier this year in Omaha at the first UFC on Fuel TV event, Brookins is ready to start pushing on a UFC career he hopes will lead him to his own bout against Aldo, who defeated Brookins four years ago at a WEC event in Hollywood, Florida. In the bout with Rocha, the fast-learning Brookins showed great improvement in his striking game, scoring a quick knockout (his first in five years) and showing more power in his strikes on the ground than he had previously. Now, he'll look to show continued improvement against Oliveira, a talented fighter who broke into the UFC at lightweight before making his featherweight debut in January.
Brookins has always done an excellent job of staying humble and calm in his fighting career, including his breakout run on The Ultimate Fighter. Now, it's time for him to make his push in the UFC and see how far his natural talent and ability to learn can take him.
