Six years after The Ultimate Fighter 7, one of the show’s contestants is now an elite mixed martial artist and ready to fight for a UFC title.
Matt Brown, the TUF 7 alumnus most remembered as the guy that told the world he had overdosed on heroin before finding his way into MMA (hence his nickname “The Immortal”), headlines UFC on FOX 12 Saturday against Robbie Lawler with the winner earning a shot at UFC welterweight champion Johny Hendricks later this year.
PROGRAMMING NOTE: Watch UFC on FOX 12 Saturday on Sportsnet 360 with prelims starting at 6 p.m. EST and the main card at 8 p.m. EST
During TUF 7, no one thought Brown would become a title contender. Sure, he knocked out Jeremy May with a nasty head kick, but then he lost to Amir Sadollah by submission and that basically turned into the story of the first half of his career. In the first 23 fights of Brown’s career, he was submitted nine times, including losses to a number of inferior fighters he should have smashed. At one point, Brown lost four of five fights in the UFC all by submission to Seth Baczynski, Brian Foster, Chris Lyle and Ricardo Almeida, and it looked like his UFC career was all but over.
But then something happened. For whatever reason, despite losing four of five fights the UFC decided to keep him around and give him one more shot to prove his worth. Maybe UFC matchmaker Joe Silva felt bad for him because of the hardships he had been through in his life. Maybe Silva saw something in Brown that the rest of us didn’t. Whatever the reason was, Brown was kept on the roster and the Ohio-based fighter made the best of it.
At UFC 143 in February 2012, Brown took on Chris Cope in what was absolutely his last chance in the Octagon. He won by knockout in the second round to save his job. Then he took on Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson at UFC 145 and, despite being an underdog, defeated Thompson by decision and strung together a two-fight win streak for the first time in over two years.
Next up for Brown was Luis Ramos, who Brown decimated with his Muay Thai at UFC on FX 4. Then it was Mike Swick, who Brown knocked out cold at UFC on FOX 5, again as the underdog. He moved on to fight top prospect Jordan Mein at UFC on FOX 7 in another fight he wasn’t supposed to win, but he came through once again, this time with a vicious second-round knockout in a Fight of the Night-winning performance.
After the Mein win, fans started to take notice of Brown, and so did the UFC, who decided to match him up with veteran Mike Pyle. Brown KO’d Pyle in 29 seconds at UFC Fight Night 26 to win Knockout of the Night. At that point, the UFC couldn’t help but give Brown a step up in competition and after smashing Erick Silva in the main event of UFC Fight Night 40 in May — winning Fight of the Night and Performance of the Night in the process — the UFC had to give Brown what he had earned, a title eliminator fight against the No. 1 welterweight contender Lawler.
Although Brown at one point was one of the weakest fighters in the UFC’s 170-pound division and a guy no one really cared about, he’s now one of the most popular welterweights on the planet and one of the top contenders. Seven wins in a row will do that for someone, especially when six of them come by knockout.
If Brown completes the ultimate career turnaround and beats Lawler before fighting for the title, one would be hard pressed not to consider him the best fighter to come off of TUF since Rashad Evans in season two. Although Brown isn’t the most skilled athlete in the world, he has worked extremely hard to improve and round out his game. At this point he’s clearly one of the most dangerous fighters in the world at any weight class and is easily one of the most exciting to watch.
The fight against Lawler this weekend has Fight of the Night potential attached to it. If the same Brown that destroyed everyone in his path the last two years shows up and the new version of Lawler, who has managed a similar career turnaround, shows up then fans could be in store for one of the best fights of 2014.
Not bad for a guy who nearly died from an OD all those years ago. Not bad at all.
