Matt Brown Explains Why He Came Back to Fight Carlos Condit
Matt Brown will be the first to admit when he announced his pending retirement last year that it was done so he could be held accountable after his fight with Diego Sanchez.
Brown’s matchup with Sanchez had just been announced and shortly after that the Ohio native posted on Instagram that the fight would be the final one of his career as he planned to retire afterwards.
Part of the announcement came because Brown felt like perhaps it was time to hang up the gloves but a big part of it also happened so he’d be forced to live up to his word after the fight was over.
Brown knew a spectacular finish against Sanchez could lure him back for one more fight but he couldn’t predict that it would actually be the training camp that played such a huge part in his decision to stick around behind that matchup last November.
So as soon as Brown’s elbow ricocheted off of Sanchez’s head, stopping the fight with a vicious one shot knockout, he already had an idea that his fighting days were far from finished.
“Right after I got done fighting [Diego Sanchez] there was just a lot of up in the air, maybe I’ll retire, maybe not,” Brown explained on the latest Fight Society podcast. “I had such a great camp was the big thing. I had a great camp with Diego and felt great the whole time, had the right people around me, I pretty much knew I was going to be fighting again after that camp I think.
“It was just a matter of do I take a year off, two years, four years like GSP or does it come right away.”
After that fight finished, Brown hadn’t officially declared his retirement so the UFC was still making him offers including a main event slot against Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone at the upcoming UFC Fight Night card in Austin, Tex. As much as Brown wanted to avenge his prior loss to Cerrone, fighting in February was just too soon and he ultimately had to turn down the opportunity.
Like fate intervened, the UFC came calling once again — this time with an offer to face off with former interim champion Carlos Condit in a featured bout at the upcoming UFC on FOX card in Glendale, Arizona.
See as much as Brown wanted to run it back with Cerrone, a fight with Condit had long been on his radar as a dream match that would definitely get him back into the Octagon. Back in 2013, Brown had been scheduled to face Condit in a welterweight showdown at a different UFC on FOX card but sadly he suffered a back injury that forced him out of the fight and the promotion never moved to reschedule the bout.
Now almost five years later, Brown couldn’t pass up the chance to finally step into the cage to do battle with a fighter like Condit, who he believes is cut from the same cloth when it comes to their heart and passion for mixed martial arts.
“When the opportunity with Condit came up of course I had to jump right on that. Again, I don’t think there’s a fight fan out there that won’t be excited to see that,” Brown said.
“I’m just honored that I’m in this position that I’m fighting these guys at that level and they’re excited to fight me and I’m excited to fight them. I’ve worked years and years for this and finally up to where I’m at now. I just want to keep the ball rolling. I want to get this win and that will feel really great for me. I think it will say a lot for my career.”
Now Brown will get his chance to face Condit but what comes after that is still anybody’s guess. Brown is taking everything one fight at a time but right now he’s on top of the world with excitement to build his game plan to win on April 14.
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