Matt Brown (born January 10, 1981) is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2004, Brown was a contestant on the seventh season of The Ultimate Fighter television series.
Background
Brown was born and raised in Jamestown, Ohio. After being home schooled for two years, he attended Greeneview High School, where he struggled to fit in. Living in a small town with no foreseeable future outside of a low paying factory job as a machinist, Brown grew frustrated and turned to drugs and alcohol. For a period, he was addicted to meth, regularly used cocaine and would often get into fights at parties. By his early twenties he had survived a heroin overdose (which led to his nickname "The Immortal"), had been homeless and had been to prison. Brown's interest in MMA started with drunkenly practicing various submission holds that he had seen on VHS tapes featuring Ken Shamrock on friends.
In what started as a cocaine-fueled trip to see his friend fight, Brown signed up to his first fight on a few hours' notice. He purchased a mouth piece from across the road, boiled it in a nearby restaurant and fought his first fight without any training; despite this he ended up winning. Brown fought again in the same night and was beaten badly, losing a decision. His first formal training was at a Japanese jiu-jitsu gym, where he agreed to another fight in two weeks with Muay Thai rules. In what was actually a sanshou match, Brown wound up losing by decision and went to work the same night. He later transitioned to a Jorge Gurgel affiliate, which led him to full MMA training.
Mixed martial arts career
Early career
After compiling an amateur record of 2–0, Brown made his professional MMA debut in the fall of 2005, winning via submission.
On February 9, 2007, in Kennesaw, Georgia, Matt Brown won the ISCF (International Sport Combat Federation) East Coast Welterweight Championship over Douglas Lima by referee stoppage due to strikes at 2:50 of the second round.
Brown thought his career was over due to money problems, yet The Ultimate Fighter trials came along and he was selected to be on the show. He then began splitting time training with Matt Hume in Seattle, Washington and at Throwdown Training Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The Ultimate Fighter
Brown was chosen as one of the thirty-two fighters to get a chance at a six-figure UFC contract in The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rampage vs. Team Forrest. He officially entered the show after defeating Josh Hall by TKO in the preliminary round. Brown moved on to the quarter-finals by defeating Jeremy May in the first round via head kick KO. He faced eventual winner Amir Sadollah in the quarter-finals but lost by triangle choke in the second round.
Ultimate Fighting Championship
Brown won his UFC debut at The Ultimate Finale 7 by defeating Matt Arroyo, a season six contestant, via second-round TKO. The fight was a rematch from their 2007 fight, which Brown took on a few hours' notice and also won via TKO.
Brown lost his second fight in the organization by split decision to Korean Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 88. Kim threatened Brown with a rear-naked choke from back control in the first round, but became exhausted in the second round. In the third, Kim used some effective ground-and-pound and cut Brown with an elbow. All three judges scored the bout 29–28, two of them in Kim's favor and one in Brown's favor. The decision was contested by the partisan American crowd in attendance with noticeable booing. Commentator Joe Rogan announced during the post-fight interviews that he believed Brown had won the fight.
After Matthew Riddle sustained a knee injury during training, Brown replaced him at UFC 91 and fought Ryan Thomas. Brown won by armbar in the second round.
Brown next fought at UFC 96 on March 7, 2009, in which he fought Pete Sell. Brown defeated Sell via TKO in the first round.
Brown was scheduled to fight on the TUF 9 Finale card against Anthony Johnson. However, Johnson pulled out of the fight after injuring his knee during practice. The UFC set out to find a replacement for Johnson but Brown pulled out as well, to heal up some nagging injuries.