Poor Matt Brown (pictured). The UFC welterweight was getting hit from all angles this weekend in Brazil. Brown made the trek to jiu jitsu country to fight Demian Maia at UFC 198, so he probably thought that would be the only time he would be assaulted.
Brown turned up the heat during Friday’s weigh-ins when he turned up his middle fingers to the 15,000 Brazilians who pelted him with boos.
Three fans tried to exact revenge when Brown made his way down the octagon aisle Saturday by hitting him in the head. The worst incident came from a fan who grabbed Brown so hard by his hoodie that it turned him around.
According to UFC senior vice president and general manager of Brazil Giovani Decker, that fans was ejected.
“We identified who it was that pulled him, and we took them out of the arena,” Decker told MMA Junkie. “Moving forward, we’re just going to have to be extra careful, especially when the foreign fighters are walking out. But whoever it was that pulled him, we took him out of the arena.”
Things quickly snowballed from there for Brown. Fourteen minutes and 31 seconds later, he was forced to tap after getting caught in Maia’s rear-naked choke. It was Brown’s third loss in his past four outings.
And just when Brown thought things couldn’t get any worse, he gets sucker-punched in the hotel lobby by his former jiu-jitsu coach and business partner as he’s trying to check out.
Rodrigo Botti tore a page out of Jon Jones’ playbook by hitting Brown and running. Brown’s buddies easily caught Botti before he could get into a cab and gave him the business.
Brown’s wife, Colleen Brown, took to Twitter to offer up some background behind their beef.
Not a random fan who attacked Matt. It was Rodrigo Botti who is an absolute psycho.
— Colleen Brown (@Mrs_Immortal) May 15, 2016
In Feb 2015 Matt wore wrestling shoes on mats and Botti got pissed..shoved Matt so Matt fought back. Botti called cops like a wimp.
— Colleen Brown (@Mrs_Immortal) May 15, 2016
Big take away from today: Botti punched & RAN. Let's all remember Botti 4 being the biggest coward in all of MMA! He solidified his name.
— Colleen Brown (@Mrs_Immortal) May 15, 2016
“UFC is aware that welterweight contender Matt Brown was allegedly attacked today by a former acquaintance at the UFC 198 host hotel in Curitiba, Brazil,” the UFC expressed in a statement. “UFC has been in communication with local authorities to gather more information relative to the alleged attack, and is reviewing security measures at the hotel.
“Fortunately, Brown was uninjured in the situation and will return home to the United States later today as planned.”
Don’t worry, Matt. Things can only get better from here. You’d think…
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