This past Saturday on the main card of UFC Columbus, we saw a helluva fight in the welterweight division. “The Immortal” Matt Brown (23-19) was fighting in his home state of Ohio as he took on the tough Bryan Barberena (17-8).
There was expectations leading up to UFC Columbus that this would be a war and that’s what this fight was. The first two rounds featured both men having big moments with Matt Brown executing some big trips and landing some big shots.
Bryan Barberena also had some big moments hurting Matt Brown on the feet in the second round. These two were going toe-to-toe and giving it everything that they had at UFC Columbus.
Entering the third round, it was truly anyone’s fight. Matt Brown didn’t push quite as hard in the third round and many gave the final round to Barberena. In the end, that round decided the fight as two of the three judges gave the fight to Barberena at UFC Columbus.
What’s next after UFC Columbus?
Matt Brown and the crowd was very frustrated by the decision at UFC Columbus. Brown told Ariel Helwani today on The MMA Hour that he thought he had the first two rounds in the bag. He stated that he wanted to fight in the third, but he was conservative thinking he had the decision won.
Turns out, that train of thought cost him the fight. Brown said he would definitely be in favor of the UFC and athletic commissions adopting open-scoring to avoid situations like this in the future. In his interview, Brown also said that he signed a new deal with the UFC.
Brown said last week that he has no intentions on hanging it up yet and he was hoping for a new deal after Saturday. Well, he got that new deal just days after the Fight of the Night concluded.
So, with a new deal in hand, what’s next for Matt Brown? Well, I think the UFC should give him an opponent that can give him a fun fight but someone lower in the welterweight ranks. Personally, I think a fight with “Cowboy” Alex Oliveira would be a lot of fun.
We just saw Cowboy give Kevin Holland all he could handle a few weeks ago and I think that would be an incredibly fun matchup for fans. Whatever direction the UFC decides to go in, fans will tune in and fans can be happy knowing Matt Brown isn’t going anywhere.