Matt Brown: ‘I’ve had more people tell me not to retire than to retire’

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Wild

Zi Nazi
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Dec 31, 2014
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In late September, Matt Brown announced that his scheduled November 11th fight against fellow TUF alum Diego Sanchez would be his last. But a couple of days before fight night, he was suddenly unsure about it, bearing feelings of dissatisfaction about his career accomplishments.

“The Immortal” ended up with an emphatic win against Sanchez via a vicious first-round elbow knockout. After this rejuvenating moment, it now looks like the 36-year-old UFC veteran would really be putting his previous retirement plans on hold, considering that more people have apparently told him to continue fighting.

“I don’t know, man. To be honest, I’m not even thinking about it…


Matt Brown: ‘I’ve had more people tell me not to retire than to retire’
 

Limpy

Banned
Oct 20, 2015
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I love the guy. I remember when he was on TUF and everyone was terrified of him.

I hope he retires but a lot of us will miss him. Not the most talented but he was born to be a fighter. We’ll be lucky if another fighter comes along similar to him.
 

Sheepdog

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Dec 1, 2015
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He's been through a lot of wars and retirement is probably a good idea. But with that said, he has only been KOd/TKOd twice in his career. They were back to back, which is concerning and were probably the catalyst for his retirement thoughts, but there are no alarming concerns with brain trauma yet.

So if he wants to continue, then I don't see a problem at this point, this isn't a Bigfoot Silva situation. Another stoppage loss should probably spell the end though.
 

sgotwalks

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Jan 16, 2015
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That fucked up screen flaw during the final moments of his victory were an omen. We weren't meant to his the end of Matt Brown on that night!
 

Filthy

Iowa Wrestling Champion
Jun 28, 2016
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He's been through a lot of wars and retirement is probably a good idea. But with that said, he has only been KOd/TKOd twice in his career. They were back to back, which is concerning and were probably the catalyst for his retirement thoughts, but there are no alarming concerns with brain trauma yet.

So if he wants to continue, then I don't see a problem at this point, this isn't a Bigfoot Silva situation. Another stoppage loss should probably spell the end though.
by the time there's any brain concerns, it's too late.
 

Filthy

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and let's not forget that Matt's life before MMA wasn't exactly brain-friendly.
 

Wild

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That fucked up screen flaw during the final moments of his victory were an omen. We weren't meant to his the end of Matt Brown on that night!
Freaking sad that his most devastating finish, and possibly the last moments of his career, weren't captured live because some dork for FOX/UFC fell asleep at the wheel.
 
M

member 603

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Well Matt if that's the case, those people hate you.... Like REALLY fucking HATE you.

You're a warrior, and fight to the death, but I'd rather see you walk away now on that win, than to have you kill an entire restaurant when you're 60 because you have CTE, and the poor stupid waitress didn't put the Pico and Guacamole on your nachos.
 

Sheepdog

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by the time there's any brain concerns, it's too late.
Well, obviously. I'm not talking about waiting until you are actually showing signs of brain damage, just that a guy like Overeem should be a lot more worried than a guy like Brown.

If the fear of suffering a life-altering concussion in your next fight is the reason to prevent someone from fighting, then nobody should fight ever.

Brown got dropped in the Ellenberger fight early to the head, but the actual stoppage was due to a body kick. So we are talking about a fighter who has been knocked out once in his career. If he still believes he has some fights left in the tank, this isn't one of those cases where it appears to be a serious problem.
 
M

member 603

Guest
Well, obviously. I'm not talking about waiting until you are actually showing signs of brain damage, just that a guy like Overeem should be a lot more worried than a guy like Brown.

If the fear of suffering a life-altering concussion in your next fight is the reason to prevent someone from fighting, then nobody should fight ever.

Brown got dropped in the Ellenberger fight early to the head, but the actual stoppage was due to a body kick. So we are talking about a fighter who has been knocked out once in his career. If he still believes he has some fights left in the tank, this isn't one of those cases where it appears to be a serious problem.
Plenty of NFL players were never concussed, but developed the shakes in their lives (some diagnosed with CTE after their death)... In MMA, especially the guys that go into wars in their careers (like Brown, Diego Sanchez, Mark Hunt, Justin Gaethje, etc) all should call it a career after the beatings they've taken, it'll be hard to see the fallout when they're in their 50's+
 

Sheepdog

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Plenty of NFL players were never concussed, but developed the shakes in their lives (some diagnosed with CTE after their death)... In MMA, especially the guys that go into wars in their careers (like Brown, Diego Sanchez, Mark Hunt, Justin Gaethje, etc) all should call it a career after the beatings they've taken, it'll be hard to see the fallout when they're in their 50's+
I'm not saying Brown should keep fighting either. But I would like to point out that calling for Gathje's retirement is a bit absurd. He's undefeated and is on the cusp of a title shot and finally making some decent money. He needs to get out soon - but not right now.
 

GSPTrainingInAPool

Man on the silver mountain
Dec 1, 2015
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Matt doesn't know what the word relax means. He's not a guy who will be happy just lounging on a beach.

He SHOULD retire but no way he would be as happy imo
 

jason73

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Freaking sad that his most devastating finish, and possibly the last moments of his career, weren't captured live because some dork for FOX/UFC fell asleep at the wheel.
You know dana ripped that guys face off for that and he is working at burger king now
 
M

member 603

Guest
I'm not saying Brown should keep fighting either. But I would like to point out that calling for Gathje's retirement is a bit absurd. He's undefeated and is on the cusp of a title shot and finally making some decent money. He needs to get out soon - but not right now.
I understand what you're saying, however here's my take on this (BTW, not directed at you, you're always cool AF in here)...

We as MMA fans need to evolve from the blood thirsty, boo when it hits ground, cheer for the rock em sock em non technical brawler, only appreciate KO's fans into fans that have a deeper appreciation for the art of combat. I'm not saying that everyone needs to dedicate almost 20 years to training like myself and others, or turn into JMMA crowds, however we need to demand more of ourselves for the growth of our sport.

The promoters hype the fighters that make them money and who they feel we want to see... If we only want to see the KO/Get KOed guys, we cheapen the sport and have to continually deal with the 'human cockfighting' stigma. The fighters today while financially are better than fighters of 10 years ago, still don't earn a retirement fund after they finish (unless they set it up for themselves). Seeing them only get fights because they're killing themselves in there isn't great for their lives post career. Sadly that falls on the demands that we the fans want.

10 years back, the "what's safer, boxing or MMA?" debate was everywhere... My defense of MMA was "boxing focuses on lots of head shots, and if you get knocked down (basically receiving a low grade concussion), the ref stands you up, gives you 8 seconds to compose yourself, and throws you back in.... MMA you can go a whole career being a strong submission grappler who gets it to the ground, and either wins or loses by a sub, protecting yourself from ending up punch-drunk.

This has changed, now MMA fights are Rock Em Sock Em, now you see countless elbows to the heads of guys, fighters not wanting to tap out because "they ain't no bitch". You see 30 year olds who look like 50 year olds, guys who slur their speech at 29. It's become about highlight reel KO's and bloody brawls rather than the spirit of competition and honor. It's become about that Conor McGregor attitude, and less about Bushido spirit. MMA is still rather new in the sense of being a sport, and with what we demand the fighters give us (for entertainment, and so they continually make money), I'm sad to see what medical fallout will happen in 20-30 years. The Bellator fighter who lived here in Florida, and was killed after being hit by a car and losing his leg... He was in his early 20's, they found signs of CTE in his brain... Early 20's. We have to protect the fighters, they need to be paid more, and we can't call them boring if they don't produce round 12 of every Rocky boxing match in every movie.

Anyway, that's my rant, Sheepdog @lordofthepies is awesome, this was just my opinion on the modern MMA state
 

Uncaged

Active Member
Oct 12, 2017
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It's hard to imagine the UFC without him, but Matt Brown has given us far more entertaining fights at the cost of his health than he should have.

Ride into that sunset on a high note, man.

That KO is the best way to go!
 

Wild

Zi Nazi
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Dec 31, 2014
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It's hard to imagine the UFC without him, but Matt Brown has given us far more entertaining fights at the cost of his health than he should have.

Ride into that sunset on a high note, man.

That KO is the best way to go!
Well said.
 

MrFluffyHippo

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Nov 8, 2015
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So there’s no good footage of the finish? I was trying to find a clip of the fight and just thought the video was shit
 

La Paix

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Freaking sad that his most devastating finish, and possibly the last moments of his career, weren't captured live because some dork for FOX/UFC fell asleep at the wheel.
I haven't watched event yet, what happened here?