I think many of you would agree that Saturday night’s best highlight was the main card opener between Matt Brown and Dhiego Lima. “The Immortal,” at 40 years of age, turned Lima into a folded up grappling dummy with a single right hand in a performance that was more than worthy of a $50K bonus.
I’ve always been a big fan of Brown’s. His wins felt extra sweet and his losses had an added sting. And if you’ve likewise followed his career long enough, you’ll remember that time he (unofficially) picked up two TKO wins in one night.
I’m talking about his 2009 bout with Pete “Drago” Sell at UFC 96 in 2009, in front of his hometown crowd in Columbus, Ohio.
As it was customary whenever Brown stepped into the cage especially during those years, it was a firefight right from the jump. He opened up with the head kick which noticeably caught Drago’s attention.
Brown continued to push the action with a few more clean shots, leaving Sell no room to mount any offense. He finally lands a cross off a one-two, which dropped Sell and urged referee Yves Lavigne to step in. But for some reason, the veteran official decided to let the action continue.
After a few more flurries of hammerfists and knee strikes, it was a left high kick that served as the final blow. But if it weren’t for Lavigne’s possible moment of confusion, the fight would’ve ended a minute and a half earlier.
If we’re being real here, the Matt Brown of today likely gets clobbered by anyone in the top 10 at 170 pounds. At this point in his career, he’s looking for either a fun fight against one of the Diaz boys or a rematch with Demian Maia. And I say give the man his due.
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