Brookins was born on August 13, 1985, in Portland, Oregon. He attended high school at Century High School in Hillsboro, Oregon, a suburb of Portland. There he started wrestling, winning a state title his senior year and earning a scholarship to Lindenwood University.
Brookins was introduced to mixed martial arts by Charles Bennett. After meeting him and training with him, Brookins made his professional MMA debut against Allen Berube, a TUF 5 veteran. Having only trained in wrestling, Brookins surprised himself by winning via KO in under twenty seconds.
Brookins has mostly fought at featherweight, most notably in World Extreme Cagefighting where he lost to José Aldo via TKO in the third round. Brookins would later rebound at Bellator 1 where he defeated Stephen Ledbetter via submission (rear naked choke).

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