Chris Lytle tosses a right hand at Kevin Burns.

THE CANADIAN PRESS

After getting word of a rematch with fight Chris (Lights Out) Lytle, welterweight Matt (The Immortal) Brown was stoked at another shot at the veteran fighter/firefighter from Indianapolis.

"But after a couple of days that wears off and it's just a fight," said Brown, who was beaten the first time they met three years ago. "You can't let those things enter your mind. Things like that just don't make a difference.

"The fact that it's a rematch means absolutely nothing when we're standing there in the cage, looking at each other. ... In all reality, it's hardly even a rematch because we're such different fighters now."

Brown (13-8) and Lytle (38-17-4) meet on the UFC 116 main card in Las Vegas on Saturday night (available on pay-per-view). Heavyweight big hitters Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin top the bill but Brown-Lytle are expected to deliver their own slugfest.

Brown likes to stand and throw. And Lytle's modus operandi these days is not to leave anything in the judges' hands.

"There's no question about it, this fight was made to be an exciting fight," Brown said. That's why they put in on the main card. And I'm sure when (UFC matchmaker) Joe Silva was sitting there thinking who could fight who and both of our names popped into his head, he probably popped a boner.

"Like that's going to be a war right there, man. I know that's what everybody's expecting, no question about it."

The two met in August 2007 in Lytle's hometown before Brown joined the cast of Season 7 of "The Ultimate Fighter." Lytle, now 35, won by second-round submission in a fight contested mainly on the ground.

"It surprised me too," said the 29-year-old Brown. "I took that fight on short notice and I basically only prepared for standup, from watching Lytle's previous fights. I didn't even know that he was good on the ground."

It was Brown's 13th pro fight and Lytle's 43rd.

"I've learned more about Chris Lytle over time," Brown said.

"He's been doing ground fighting for a long time," he added. "I'll definitely be more prepared for that this time."

Since appearing as a middleweight on "The Ultimate Fighter" -- Brown was submitted by eventual winner Amir Sadollah in the quarter-finals -- he has gone 4-2 in the UFC.

The losses were a split decision to South Korean Dong Hyun (Stun Gun) Kim, in a fight that could have gone Brown's way, and via submission to Ricardo (Big Dog) Almeida last time out.

Brown was off his game at UFC 111 in March. Almeida wasn't and the talented jiu-jitsu fighter's take-down-and-look-to-submit style was bad for Brown.

"I trained for it, prepared for it, planned for it and was executing it in practice. I just simply wasn't able to execute that night," he said.

Brown tore rib cartilage in the first round, a painful injury that sidelined him for six weeks. Just putting his socks on was a challenge.

"You literally can't do anything without feeling it," he said. "You take a deep breath, it hurts. You sneeze, it hurts. You cough, it hurts. You swallow water, it can hurt. Just anything man.

"It was actually still hurting me when I took the Lytle fight, when they called me for it," he added. "But I wasn't about to turn that fight down."

Between Kim and Almeida, Brown won three in a row.

Since the Almeida fight, Brown has moved to Seattle to be closer to coach Matt Hume. Plus his girlfriend is expecting twins and Brown, who is originally from Ohio, didn't want to raise his family in Las Vegas where he was living.

With two boys on the way, Brown is considering the names Dan and Gable in honour of the U.S. amateur wrestling icon.

"I'm pushing for it, but I don't think it's going to happen," he said with a chuckle.

With impending fatherhood, Brown's life is about to change dramatically. Not for the first time.

Growing up, Brown fell into some bad habits.

He wrestled one year in high school and did some boxing, but his real initiation came in underground fights.

"We'd just go get drunk and fight," he said. "Get jacked up on meth whatever and fight. Back in that day, I was doing a lot of drugs and partying a lot and had a lot of issues. Going in and out of jail and this and that.

"But I kept winning those fights. So I decided I would try it seriously and use it, the training, as a way to clean up my life. Give me something to do other than go party every night."

It worked. Brown got his life back on track and found a new career.

Given that background, Brown feels a bond with Court McGee, the Season 11 winner of "The Ultimate Fighter" who battled alcohol and drugs earlier in his life.

"I had almost the same thing happened to me,"Brown said. "I overdosed on heroin also. I know exactly where he's coming from."

Brown's nickname The Immortal actually comes from the heroin overdose, rather than his fighting.

"I had a lot of really close brushes with death," he said. "My buddies were kind of joking about it, they were calling me immortal because a few things had happened and 'man, you should probably be dead."'

It struck a chord.

"Immortal could mean a lot," he said. "Like it doesn't necessarily mean you don't die. A lot of people are immortalized, like Bruce Lee or Muhammad Ali or even George Washington ... That was to me what I wanted to be in my life -- immortal. That's the greatest thing you can accomplish and that's kind of a goal of mine.

"So I got it tattooed on my stomach. And then the (fighting) nickname just came from it being on my stomach."

Brown won his first 10 amateur fights and turned pro in late 2005.

While he was dedicated to the sport, he had to balance it with other jobs -- usually construction -- to pay the bills until he made the UFC.

Today, Brown says he can handle having a drink although he can't remember the last time he had one. He just chooses not to imbibe, knowing his window as a fighter is short.

"Every single day is important, because it's only maybe 10 years more. I can hold off on all the fun and everything for 10 years. ... I never want to look back and say 'Man, I wish I didn't this or wish I didn't do that.'

"Because I've already got enough things I can look back on and say that."

That means in the aftermath of a fight, in the wake of months of Spartan training, he might allow himself a slice of pizza. But later that night, it's back to chicken and broccoli.

"Every single day is very important," Brown said.