Breakout Star Matt Brown Says He’s Taking the UFC Title, Refuses to Call it a “Title Shot”

When Matt Brown finally steps into a UFC championship fight, do not call it a “shot.” You’re likely to get the old evil eye from him.

Brown is confident that his next fight will be for the UFC welterweight title.

So confident is Brown, he refuses to describe it as a title shot because, apparently, one doesn’t describe a pending win as a “shot.”

“Let me make it clear, I’m not going to call it a title shot; I’m calling it a title fight because I’m not going to take a shot at it,” Brown said at the UFC Fight Night 40 post-fight news conference on Saturday night. “I’m going to take the title when I go fight for it.”

Brown devastated Erick Silva in the main event in Cincinnati, pummeling the Brazilian fighter for the better part of three rounds before earning the win by technical knockout.

Brown went on to call fans’ attention to UFC President Dana White, urging them to tell the executive that Brown should be next in line for a title.

White was impressed enough with the performance that it certainly puts Brown in the coveted title talk mix.

“This fight definitely puts him in the spot where we’re going to give him one of those top contenders,” White said.

The win at the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati lengthened Brown’s winning streak to seven fights, after losing four out of five previous contests. Six of Brown’s last seven wins have come by way of knockout or technical knockout. White believes that the streak he is on, and Saturday night’s victory in particular propels Brown into an entirely new league in regards to his name recognition.

“Even when Anderson Silva was the champ, look how long it took for Anderson Silva to really take and catch on. Matt Brown caught on tonight,” said White. “You know what tonight was like for him? This was like Gustafsson’s fight with Jones. That’s what this was like for Matt Brown. This is the fight that breaks Matt Brown out.”