Watching TUF 7, there was not a single fighter that excited me more than Matt Brown. Even the other fighters on the show admitted to being scared of him. A fighter admitting he's scared? Now that scares me! However as I see him more and more, the more I'm disappointed.
Here's a rundown of Matt Brown's stats:
| Loss | Dong Hyun Kim | Decision (Split) | UFC 88 - Breakthrough | 9/6/2008 | 3 | 5:00 |
| Win | Matt Arroyo | TKO (strikes) | UFC - TUF Finale | 6/21/2008 | 2 | 3:40 |
| Loss | Chris Lytle | Submission (Guillotine Choke) | UFL - United Fight League | 8/11/2007 | 2 | 2:49 |
| Win | Dan Kolbasowski | Submission (Armbar) | FightFest - Black and Blues Tour | 7/6/2007 | 1 | 1:37 |
| Loss | Daniel Moraes | Submission (Armbar) | GFC - Evolution | 5/19/2007 | 1 | 2:32 |
| Loss | Jesse Chilton | Submission (Arm Triangle Choke) | NLF 8 - Next Level Fighting 8 | 3/10/2007 | 3 | N/A |
| Win | Douglas Lima | TKO | ISCF - Invasion | 2/9/2007 | 2 | 2:50 |
| Win | Matt Arroyo | TKO | RFC 7 - Night of Champions | 11/4/2006 | 2 | 1:54 |
| Loss | Chris Liguori | Submission (Rear Naked Choke) | CITC 3 - Marked Territory | 9/30/2006 | 2 | 0:42 |
| Loss | Mikey Gomez | Submission (Rear Naked Choke) | AFC 17 - Absolute Fighting Championships 17 | 6/24/2006 | 1 | 3:35 |
| Win | Brian King | Submission (Armbar) | IE - Independent Event | 5/20/2006 | 1 | 3:27 |
| Loss | Pete Spratt | Decision (Unanimous) | IFF 1 - International Freestyle Fighting 1 | 5/6/2006 | 3 | 5:00 |
| Win | Joey Whitt | KO | GFL - Brawl at the Buckeye | 2/10/2006 | 1 | 0:39 |
| Win | Ricardo Martinez | Submission | IE - Independent Event | 10/8/2005 | 1 | 2:54 |
(courtesy of Sherdog.com)
This irks me. He has only fought two recognizable names in Pete Spratt and Chris Lytle, losing both and seems to lose every way possible. He has 5 submission losses and 2 decisions. One where he got battered by Spratt. His record stands at 7-7, not too impressive considering he has very few top opponents. Also, coming off of a loss to relatively unheralded Dong Hyun Kim, his career may be in jeopardy.
In Tuf 7 he could be classified only as a practice hero. Forrest held on to him until the end making sure he had a secret weapon up his sleeve. In his first fight he was slow and didnt speed it up until he threw a vicious headkick. This electrified the coaches showing a glimpse into his untapped potential. Unfortunately this would remain untapped.
It seemed to me like Matt froze up, making coach Forrest Griffin as frustrated as Fred Thompson would be without being able to tell irrelevant anecdotes. Forrest was stupified by Matt's shortcomings. "How are yous supposed to smack your teammates twice as hard in training as you do in the cage?" Forrest would say. Unfortunately, Matt would get submitted by Rampage's ace Amir Sadollah soon enough.
Matt Brown is supposed to embody this troubled kid persona that shows that he is a hard knock kid that only knows how to fight. That's real original, huh? Even Dana can't play the same angle over and over. Sure he's great against some no name shmuck, but when showtime comes, his knees buckle.
Matt really crapped the bed when it came to his UFC career (which reminds me of Chuck last saturday...). Coming out strong with victories on a national stage for everyone with cable to see on TUF. Then on the TUF finale he was impressive again. Somehow though, he thinks he's a bad dude. I've got news pal, your a pretender.
If anyone actually took stake in Matt Brown, someone would have given him a title shot in the division that GSP has already wiped clean. For some reason, they haven't. Maybe it's because everyone sees that he is a flash in the pan. He's exciting, when he wants to be. Most of the time he just wilts.
This is a sad truth of a big time business known as MMA, but while some rise to the challenge like Larry Holmes, others fold like a Peter McNeely. Who? That's what people will say about Matt Brown in five years.
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2 months ago
As far as I'm concerned, it's not news that Matt isn't a great fighter. Not all that talented. But I still really like him and really respect the dude. He's very mentally tough and he seems like a cool guy. Not everyone is GSP.
2 months ago
In the fight against Amir and this last fight against Kim I though Matt was very exciting and really enjoyed these fights. He needs more time to develope his skill set and he will do fine--some things can't be rushed or scheduled.
2 months ago
Brown's a journeyman, pure and simple. To be fair I thought he put on a good show against Kim but once again he was outclassed
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