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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
The idea of Matt Brown working his way into the top end of the UFC's welterweight division would have seemed downright crazy just two years ago. The 32-year-old had worked his way down to a near .500 record with four losses in five fights, losing all four in that span by submission, but he's made a massive turnaround in a very short amount of time which has him arguably jumping into that mix of fighters.
Brown made it five straight wins in a row on Saturday night when he took out the young, tough, and talented Jordan Mein at UFC on Fox 7. The fantastic brawl was admittedly suited to his style, as he has shown a propensity for absorbing punishment throughout his run, and he didn't have to deal with the submission game much, which has been his Achilles' heel in the past.
Regardless, win is all he's done in the last 15 months, and Brown said Saturday he's definitely got a future title shot on his mind.
"I wouldn't be coming to work every day if I wasn't thinking about a title shot," Brown said at the post-fight press conference on Saturday (transcribed by MMAJunkie.com). "That's what I do every day. That's my dream. That's the only goal on my mind."
"I'm not getting up every day and getting punched in the face so I can make a couple thousand dollars, you know what I mean?"
On top of that, Brown couldn't care less about what anyone else thinks about his skills. He's been proving his worth in the UFC for some time now, and after two high profile wins on Fox, he feels his time as challenger is coming, and he vows to be ready when the UFC gives him that shot.
"Just because a bunch of media people don't believe I'm not good enough for a title shot doesn't mean that it's true," Brown said. "I train very hard every day, and I train with some of the best people in the world in all the different martial arts, and I believe that my time is coming. I believe things are coming my way more and more now, and I'm going to be ready for a title shot in the future."
Penick's Analysis: Matt Brown's ascension has kind of come out of nowhere. Just 16 months ago he was facing the chopping block after a loss to Seth Baczynski, but the UFC kept him on the roster, and he's torn through five straight, stopping four of them in that stretch. There's no question that he's an extremely exciting fighter. His style and his willingness to engage in the type of brawl we saw Saturday night is a testament to that. But he hasn't really been consistent, and has been hampered by his submission defense. If that's something he can seriously improve - and who knows if that's possible at this stage in his career - then he might be able to make a real leap up the ladder against a higher level of competition. Because while winning five fights in the UFC is a very impressive accomplishment, he's going to need to pick up wins against top 10-15 fighters if he thinks a title fight is in order.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
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