There are three welterweights in the UFC with five or wins in a row.
Two of them, Georges St-Pierre and Johny Hendricks, are duking it out for the title in the main event of UFC 167.
The other is Matt Brown.
The 32-year-old Ohio native is currently riding a five-fight win streak — with victories over Jordan Mein, Mike Swick, Luis Ramos, Stephen Thompson, and Chris Cope — as he rides into his fight this weekend at UFC Fight Night 26 against the also-surging Mike Pyle with a wave of momentum behind him. And with a victory over Pyle, which would be six in a row for “The Immortal,” Brown will join the elite of the welterweight ranks.
It’s shocking that in 2013 Brown is on the verge of breaking into the upper echelon of the division, because just a few years ago he had lost three in a row and was on the verge of being released from the UFC, the promotion that has had him in the fold since 2008, when he first appeared on TUF 7.
With a poor 11-10 record, Brown took on John Howard in a loser leaves town match at UFC on Versus 4, and he saved his job with the win. But he quickly dropped his next outing to Seth Baczynski at UFC 139, and was back in the same spot he was before the Howard fight.
But something must have changed for Brown in training, because since the loss to Baczynski he’s won five straight and is arguably the most improved fighter in the UFC since the beginning of 2012.
I wish I knew exactly what Brown changed, but whatever it is, it’s been working, because the guy is on a serious roll right now. And he is a scary matchup for anyone at 170 pounds because overnight he’s turned into a well-rounded mixed martial artist with solid wrestling, an improved ground game, and some of the best muay Thai in the division. He also has an iron chin, and is maybe the most aggressive fighter in the world at 170 pounds right now.
Brown looks more and more confident each and every outing, and I expect big things from him this weekend. And if he knocks out Pyle like I expect him to do, the UFC is going to expect big things from him, too, as they’re likely to throw him up against a top-10 fighter his next time out, just to see how good this guy really is.
With all the great matchups at UFC Fight Night 26, fans can expect a lot of violence on Saturday night in Boston, and expect Brown to be the one providing a good portion of it.
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UFC Fight Night 26: Shogun vs. Sonnen is due to take place on August 17, 2013 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.
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