Nothing came easy but Randy Brown still earned his fourth win in a row in a grueling decision over Francisco Trinaldo in the UFC Vegas 61 co-main event.
It looked as though the fight would be over before it began. Brown had a brutal knockdown in round one. But Trinaldo held on and displayed the experience that has allowed him to compete at 44 age. Brown managed to put up enough offense throughout the fight to win the contest with the 29-28 scorescards from all three judges.
“Hell of a test,” Brown said about his win. I don’t believe that was my finest work. I’m sure the people watching that know this. He was an old man. I definitely felt that experience in there. Yet, I’m not ranked. It doesn’t matter where I rank. Cut my check.”
Brown, who has a large reach and size advantage kept Trinaldo far away in almost every exchange while he was setting up his striking combinations. Brown used a front kick as a cover for his punches. This led to Trinaldo being thrown on the jaw by a powerful right hand and Brown settling him on the floor.
Trinaldo was quick to get back to his feet as he grabbed onto the clinch and then transitioned to a takedown while looking for submissions. Brown managed to quickly escape and regain his feet before attempting to find a guillotine choke.
Although Trinaldo struggled to handle Brown’s long, aggressive strikes, he was able to find a place for an overhand left. The punch forced Brown to defend more at distance as he poked away at Trinaldo with strikes of his own to try and back him off.
Brown was still snapping off a slick lead jab and punishing Trinaldo any time the Brazilian was foolish enough to stand on the outside to strike with him. Trinaldo managed to land a good calf kick that knocked Brown out of his leg, and then put Brown on the floor.
Trinaldo then jumped in the guard and began to pound away at Trinaldo’s head with elbows and punches. Brown defended well as he stalled out Trinaldo’s attacks before the fight came to a close.
The victory not only puts Brown on a four-fight win streak but he’s also 6-1 over his past seven appearances in the UFC as he continues his climb up the welterweight ranks.