Matt Brown is down more than $100,000 after a close decision didn’t go his way.
“The Immortal” lost in a split call with UFC Columbus. He fought three exciting rounds against Bryan Barberena. Two judges scored the fight 29-28 for Barberena, and while both welterweights were rewarded with a $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus, only Barberena walked out with a winner’s check.
According to the official list of salaries acquired by MMA Fighting, Brown was paid $105,000 to show — a win would have doubled that amount. Brown recently appeared on The MMA Hour, where he expressed his desire to see open scoring implemented and for fighters to be paid a higher guaranteed rate regardless of whether they win or lose.
” The performance bonus, although I have received a few, has made my life much better. However, Brown stated that he is not a big fan. “Again, that’s a subjective thing. I like to take as much subjectiveness out of this as possible. In a perfect world, everyone would get the same pay. There shouldn’t be a show and win.
” I got half the pay last Saturday and was that a loss? Even if they gave it to me — which they should have — and Barberena walks away with half, he didn’t deserve half of his pay. His entire .”
pay is due to him.
UFC Columbus marked Brown’s 29th fight for the promotion. He holds the record for the most welterweight appearances in company history. In his time with the UFC, the 41-year-old has been positioned everywhere from the preliminary opener to the main event, and he’s unquestionably earned the respect of officials, fans, and media alike.
Brown thinks that if the UFC decides to change to a flat-pay structure it will start from the top, with those fighters who are reliable and deserve to be recognized as such. Brown’s UFC career has been full of tough moments. It would be less painful if the compensation reflected Brown’s value.
“A minimum of ten fights in the UFC, or another standard, is enough,” Brown stated. You’ve reached a rank or some other level where you feel like your time is worth it. We know you’re gonna put on good fights. You’re there. We know that you’re professional.’ Because some of these guys, they’re not professionals, and even in the UFC there’s guys that probably aren’t deserving. You show up and you lose weight. Things happen.
“This sport, you do all this work and all this training, preparation, the sacrifice, the grind, and then you get out there and some bulls*** happens. How often have we seen some fluke s*** happen in this sport? It’s almost a weekly occurrence in this sport and now you just lost half your pay for that? Bad judges are also a problem. You lose half your pay because of bad judging, which has happened to me more than once now.”
Even though he’d like to see advances in judging and fighter pay, Brown is happy where he is and has no plans to leave the promotion he’s called home since 2008. He signed a new contract with the UFC following the loss to Barberena.
Rain or shine, Brown is the definition of an MMA lifer.
“I have my opinions on this stuff and I’m very strong about it, but I’m also very blessed and very grateful that I’m able to live the life that I live,” Brown said. “I love what I do. Right now, it’s a pain. I thought I won the Carlos Condit fight [in January 2021], which was way closer, I thought, than this fight, so I’m not as mad about that. And now this fight … if I would have got the judges’ decision on both of these, I’d be on a three-fight win streak and looking at top 15, at least top 20 opponent — and at my age, that was kind of what I was shooting for.
“Whether that’s a goal now is kind of what changes. Now I just re-signed with the UFC, they offered me a new contract straight away after the fight. Although it was my first fight, I had been pressing for a contract. [UFC President] Dana [White], [UFC matchmaker] Sean [Shelby] were like me, and we put on great fights so all was well. They gave me a raise and I am happy with it.
” I live an amazing life and I enjoy what I do. It’s more about having fun and the passion for the sport. Let’s just see what happens. So my point being, my love for this sport hasn’t changed at all. This sport is my passion. It’s a joy to get out there, particularly in the presence of my fans. It was hard to be out there for the last two years due to COVID. But being back with the fans is the best thing. It’s a wonderful experience .”
and I am very grateful for it.
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