UFC fighter Matt Brown advises young fighters to consider the long-term impact on their careers before accepting short-notice fights, despite the immediate respect and favor it can earn with the UFC, citing his own experience and the recent knockout loss of Alexander Volkanovski after he accepted a rematch on just 10 days’ notice.
Matt Brown, a seasoned MMA fighter, admits to taking fights he probably shouldn’t have. The UFC would make an offer, and he’d say yes. He shoulders the blame for those decisions.
He’s seen the upside of stepping in when the UFC needed him. Even in defeat, it sometimes paid off. But after over 40 fights, he’s learned to look at the bigger picture when considering a short-notice opportunity.
Brown has some advice for younger fighters. He says, “One of the tips I’d give is to zoom out.” He emphasizes the importance of looking at your fight career as a whole. He shared this wisdom on The Fighter vs. The Writer.
He admits that he didn’t always zoom out. He’d hear about an opportunity and jump at it. He took many short-notice fights. It earned him favor with the UFC and respect. But he advises fighters to look at their career as a marathon, not a sprint.
Short-notice fights can pay off. But sometimes, they backfire. A prime example is UFC 294. Featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski accepted a lightweight title fight rematch against Islam Makhachev on just 10 days’ notice. He’d lost their first encounter.
Despite his best effort, Volkanovski was knocked out in the first round. It was his first knockout since his fourth pro fight in 2013. He doesn’t regret his decision, but there were consequences. A second loss to Makhachev likely prevents a third fight from happening anytime soon, if ever.
Brown gets it. He knows that as time passes, people forget the circumstances surrounding a fight. All they see is a knockout loss on Volkanovski’s record. He says, “No one knows, cares or remembers what type of notice you got for that fight.”
He adds, “They don’t see all the asterisks next to it that you could be putting. I could put all kind of asterisks next to so many of my fights, wins and losses. But no one sees, knows or cares about that.”
When deciding whether to accept a short notice fight, Brown says it’s crucial to have people around who will tell you hard truths. He’s seen fighters surround themselves with yes men who don’t always have their best interest at heart.
He admits he hasn’t always taken advice from those around him. But he appreciates having coaches and friends who tell him what he needs to hear. He says, “You’ve got to have somebody around you that puts their foot down and tells you the honest truth.”
He recalls times when he took fights on short notice against his coaches’ advice. He didn’t listen, lost the fight, and later regretted it. But he admires fighters who take short notice fights. He’s done it often in his career. He just hopes they weigh the risk/reward.
He says, “I love when guys step up on short notice and have the balls to do that. I highly respect that. But you have to weigh the risk/reward.”
You can listen to new episodes of The Fighter vs. The Writer every Tuesday. Audio-only versions of the podcast are available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and iHeartRadio.