UFC veteran Matt Brown has shared the reason why he decided to retire from MMA.
Last weekend, Brown announced his retirement from MMA, concluding a 28-fight career with the organization. During his tenure, he gathered a record of 15 wins and 13 losses, and bagged the record for the most knockout victories in the welterweight division’s history.
‘The Immortal’ hadn’t fought since May 2023 and was seriously mulling walking away for some time. However, he hung onto the idea that he could have one last dance on the monumental UFC 300 card last month in Las Vegas. Brown said he was expecting to get a contract to fight Jim Miller in what would be his retirement fight, but the promotion decided to book Miller against Bobby Green instead, and that marked the final nail in the coffin.
In a recent interview on MMA Junkie, here is what Brown had to say.
“The only thing I was really holding off for was I thought I was going to get on UFC 300 and fight Jim Miller, and I was going to use that for my sendoff,” Brown said. “I was pretty dead set on that: I’m going to fight Jim Miller at UFC 300, this would be the most badass sendoff ever fighting such a legend like Jim Miller on the biggest card in UFC history, and they didn’t make it happen. So I was like, ‘Well, f*** it then.’
“I’m not bitter by any means, but if there’s anything that rubbed me the wrong way it’s that I wasn’t able to get on 300, because that’s how I wanted to end it. I begged to get on 100. I begged to get on 200. I begged to get on 300. I was like, ‘Dude, haven’t I earned something yet.’ I tried everything I could, and I thought it was set in stone. I was literally training to fight Jim Miller. He said he wanted to fight me; I said I wanted to fight him. I thought all the cards were in place, and I thought it was going to be an easy call, and then it didn’t happen. It would’ve been the perfect sendoff for me. I’m sure UFC has their reasons, whatever they are.”
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