UFC 133 Fight Card: Mike Brown Only Worried About Beating Nam Phan at UFC 133

Mike Brown has gone through a lot of recent troubles that have brought him from being the WEC featherweight champion straight down to a featherweight on a two-fight losing streak.

Now heading into UFC 133, Brown's career in the UFC could be on the line if he suffers his third consecutive loss to Nam Phan.

Brown talked about the rough patch he's going through on Sherdog Radio.

“It was rough,” Brown said during the “Savage Dog Show.” “I think it was 14 months where it all came crashing down. I was busy. In 14 months I fought six times, which is a lot at a world-class level. I lost four of them. I had one [loss] in like five years or something. I was doing well and then I hit this patch.” 

Since his loss to Jose Aldo in November 2009, Brown has been in the worst part of his career. Recovering from injuries and big losses, he's never had a stint like this. For Brown, though, it's all about getting back on track and making changes to avoid another spot like this.

“The first two [losses] were for different reasons,” Brown said. “I think Aldo was just—man, he was a step ahead of me on everything and kind of picked me apart, beat me up. With Manny, I think I got caught. With those two, it was hard to tie them together completely. Then the other two, I was trying to look at what was going on and figure out what the problem was. Since then I’ve made a ton of changes in my training and my camp. I think it’s going to work out.”

Now Brown is just looking towards Phan and breaking down his opponent's game plan.

“I have a good understanding of what his game is,” Brown said. “All of his fights seem pretty similar. He doesn’t change a lot. He’s gotten better over the years at what he does do, but it looks like always the same game plan. He comes forward a lot. Nice jab, right hand, left hook to the body or the head. Solid jiu-jitsu. Definitely a tough guy, a tough opponent.” 

With this fight comes the hardest pill that Brown will possibly have to swallow—his third straight loss and an exit from the UFC.

Is there pressure? Brown says no. 

“I don’t even feel it. It’s like, if it happens, it happens,” he said. “I want to win the fight so bad regardless of that. Every fight, I think nothing else besides winning. I’m crushed every time that I lose no matter what… Nothing else matters except getting in there and putting the pedal to the floor and trying to get the guy out of there as quick as you can, try to hurt him before he hurts you. Everything else, to me, is just small potatoes. Just background noise.” 

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