Matt Brown: UFC 185 victory over Johny Hendricks should lead to title shot

Matt Brown

Matt Brown has only lost to one fighter in the past three years: UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler.

Brown said he doesn’t obsess over the defeat, but he’d certainly like a second chance one day. That chance could come sooner than later, as Brown (19-12 MMA, 12-7 UFC) said a rematch could be in order if he scores a victory over ex-champ Johny Hendricks (16-3 MMA, 11-3 UFC) at UFC 185 next month.

“Beat Johny Hendricks, I don’t think it takes much more than that (to get a title shot),” Brown told MMAjunkie Radio. “I beat him and I don’t see a reason why it wouldn’t be me and Robbie again.”

UFC 185 takes place March 14 at Dallas’ American Airlines Center. Brown vs. Hendricks is featured on the pay-per-view main card following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.

The contest will mark Brown’s return to the octagon after he dropped a competitive decision to Lawler in July 2014. It was a welterweight No. 1 contender fight, and with the win, Lawler moved on to capture the belt from Hendricks at UFC 181 in December.

Brown was just one win away from a title shot when he fought Lawler, a position many fighters could only dream of. Unfortunately, he came up short in his big opportunity and was forced to regroup. Instead of letting the loss damper his spirits, though, Brown said he used the contest as motivation.

“I felt like I did the best I could,” Brown said. “He was a little better than me that night. I don’t have any regrets. I don’t have any doubts I could do better, but at the same time I was happy with how I performed. All I did was make a few mistakes. It was nothing to be ashamed of.”

Brown put together an impressive six-fight UFC winning streak prior to the matchup with Lawler. It was widely considered that “Ruthless” would be a considerable step up in competition from anyone Brown had previously faced, and the result showed as much.

“The Immortal” won’t take a step back with hopes to avoid second consecutive defeat. When the matchup with Hendricks was offered, Brown said he pounced immediately. He had no reservations taking on the former champion, even for Hendricks’ comeback fight after he lost the title to Lawler.

“I’ve never had a lack of confidence,” Brown said. “It’s just needing to believe this is my destiny, this is my fate. It should have been years ago. It’s my fault that I wasn’t, but I believe this is come all along at the right time. I just had to put all the pieces together and allow things to happen. Fortunately, things are starting to happen my way. We’ll see what happens March 14 and go from there.”

With the fight less than one month away, Brown and Hendricks are in the thick of preparation for the clash of top 170-pound fighters. Hendricks has remained quite through most of training camp, but Brown’s name recently popped into the news due to an issue outside the cage.

One of Brown’s former coaches, Rodrigo Botti, accused the UFC fighter of assault after an alleged argument turned violent.

Few factual details regarding the incident have emerged. Brown was unwilling to speak in-depth about the situation, but said he will soon reveal his side of the story. Until then, he asked outsiders to wait before passing judgment.

“Unfortunately I can’t really talk too much about it,” Brown said. “There’s a lot that I would like to say. To anybody who thinks I’m in the wrong here, please don’t pass judgment until you hear the entire story. I see a lot of people on the Internet that apparently have a bad taste in their mouth over the story.

“I’m not some kind of violent person who is out there looking to pick fights with people. I keep it in the cage. Please just wait until you hear the whole story. Don’t judge me off of what obviously the other party is saying.”

If Brown defeats Hendricks, there’s a good chance a title shot will finally be his. There’s no guarantee Lawler will still hold the crown, though, as the champ is rumored to put his belt on the line against Rory MacDonald this summer.

While it would be nice to simultaneously avenge a loss and win the title, Brown said he’s not concerned with who has the belt once he becomes No. 1 contender. Moreover, he knows thinking of the title right now is mostly wasted energy, because up next is Hendricks, a fighter who could easily spoil all of Brown’s hopes and dreams with one big punch.

“I don’t care who wins either way because Robbie already beat both of us,” Brown said. “I think I did better against him than Rory did. I guess if you put some MMA math together, I have a better chance of beating Rory. I’m focused on Johny. He’s one of the toughest guys out there. He’s a former champion. I need to worry about him and whatever happens after that is going to take care of itself.”

For more on UFC 185, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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