COLUMBUS, Ohio – Matt Brown is one of the oldest, longest-tenured fighters on the roster, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the end is nearing.
At UFC on ESPN 33, Brown (23-18 MMA, 16-12 UFC) will make his 29th walk to the promotion’s cage and will do so in front of a hometown crowd. Some athletes might be engulfed by the circumstances, but it’s just another night of work for Brown.
“It’s just another night, man,” Brown told MMA Junkie at a news conference. “There’s an area and a cage, and a guy inside there that wants to mess me up. That’s where my focus is, man, is inside that cage, what happens inside there. Me being ready to go and all the other stuff doesn’t matter, but it will be nice after the fight. My kids will be right here with me and all my friends and family, so after the fight is where it really kicks in and it’s cool.”
Brown, 41, told MMA Junkie earlier this week he hopes to sign an eight-fight deal with the promotion after he fights out his contract Saturday at Nationwide Arena. That isn’t an exaggeration. For Brown, there are only two reasons he’d stop fighting – and neither of them have happened yet. His health is good and his life is comfortably maintained.
“I plan on going until the wheels fall off, man,” Brown said. “Outside of my brain, I’ve got to keep my brain intact, but it’s been healthy so far. I do the Cleveland Clinic study. I’m sure you guys all know about it. My scores have improved over time, actually, which is crazy. As long as my brain is in tact, man, I can just keep going. Who knows? I take it one fight at a time. That all could change next week. I could be like, ‘You know what? Screw this.’ I think me and Ken (Hathaway) were just talking about this the other day. It’s not the fighting that’s hard. I could do this another 20 years, man. It’s the life. Life itself gets in the way. If there is too much life going on, then it gets in the way of fighting. In terms of just being motivated, disciplined, and enjoying and loving fighting, I could do it basically until I die, I think.”
Fight fans have already dubbed his bout against Bryan Barberena (16-8 MMA, 7-6 UFC) a likely frontrunner for the “Fight of the Night” bonus award. That’s not Brown’s goal though. He wants to dominate.
“For me, I think there’s a very good likelihood that I just go in there and make him look bad,” Brown said. “That’s what I plan on doing and that’s what I’m looking for. I’m not really looking for ‘Fight of the Night,’ I’m looking to showcase myself.”
Check out Brown’s full UFC on ESPN 33 pre-fight news conference above, and check out MMA Junkie’s exclusive hour-long documentary on him, entitled “In Pursuit of Immortality,” below.
