Mike Brown | Source: MMAWeekly.com
In a span of two short years, former WEC Featherweight Champion Mike Thomas Brown has experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, from fighting on the local circuit, to taking the world featherweight title from consensus number one-ranked Urijah Faber in only his second fight with the WEC, to losing the belt to Brazilian phenom Jose Aldo in stunning fashion last November.
While Brown admits that the loss–and the manner in which it occurred–rattled him for a time, a comeback win over Anthony Morrison in January has allowed him to put the past in the past and plant his focus firmly on the task at hand. That task may only stand 5’5″ tall, but TUF 5 alum Manny Gamburyan, whom Brown will face in one of the featured bouts of WEC 48, is one of the best featherweights in the world, and Brown knows he’ll have to be firing on all cylinders in order to defeat the Armenian pitbull and get another crack at the title he once held.
Brown recently spoke with Tapology’s Steven Kelliher to discuss his disappointing loss to Aldo, his win over Morrison, and his upcoming fight with Gamburyan on the WEC’s first ever Pay Per View event, which takes place this Saturday night from ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California.
After soundly defeating the best featherweight in the division’s short history on two separate occasions from 2008-09, Brown suffered the first loss of his WEC career to Aldo in what would have been his third title defense. While losing the title was bad enough, Brown was rattled not by the L on his record, but rather by the manner in which it came about.
“Aldo was the first guy ever to dominate me,” Brown said. “I’ve had a few losses in the past, and all of them were submissions, but in all of them I thought I was winning the fight until I got submitted. Aldo beat me up. He was winning the first round and finished me in the second. I couldn’t take him down and his striking was one step ahead of mine, so I’m working on some new things and I’ll come back with a new plan.”
Some of those new things Brown has been working on at American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida were on full display this past January, when he promptly overwhelmed and choked out Anthony Morrison in the first round of their main card fight at WEC 46.
“It was prefect,” he said about the performance, adding, “I showed a nice solid, dominant performance and got another paycheck in the bank. I got that loss behind me and now I feel better and ready to take on anybody. I’m trying to work on things I never worked on before, such as footwork, motion, some new Jiu-Jitsu stuff, and some new takedowns. In this past six months I think I’ve grown an awful lot.”
Although most fans and pundits have Brown as a comfortable favorite heading into his main card bout against UFC veteran and former lightweight Manny Gamburyan, the former champion knows he is in for a tough fight.
“He’s tough,” Brown said, “top ten in the world, and the guy who wins I think will be in a position for a title shot. I want to finish him, but he’s a world-class fighter so you’ve got to take what you can get.”
When asked about the possibility of earning a title shot with a victory, Brown was hopeful.
“I think so,” he said. “We’re both top ten guys. I’m number two and he’s somewhere in the seven to nine ballpark. It’s a fight everyone is going to see, and people need to be familiar with the guy fighting for the title.”
And while some have questioned the validity of Faber’s claim to a title shot after only one win, Brown will have none of it.
“I think Faber deserves the title shot. He just finished Raphael Assuncao. He’s a great fighter and Faber submitted a guy who was ranked highly,” he said, adding that he does not think he deserved an immediate rematch given the manner in which he was defeated.
When pressed to pick a winner in the fight, Brown had difficulty, but ultimately settled on the favorite, picking Aldo to retain the belt.
“It’s two world-class guys going at it, so it’s hard to predict. I’ve lost a lot of money betting on the sport, but if I had to predict I would predict Aldo because he beat me up. He’s a good athlete, quick, strong, and he has good hips and good balance, but he’s lost before and he could lose again.”
Finally, Brown gave his thoughts on the WEC heading to Pay Per View for the first time and whether or not he expected–and hoped for–more Pay Per View broadcasts in the near future.
“I think it’s only a good thing,” he said. “If you look at the UFC guys on the Fight Nights or the Pay Per View shows, the guys on the Pay Per Views are making a lot more money and the bonuses are a lot bigger. I think the same thing will happen with the WEC. I predict [that] in five to six years the featherweights and bantamweights will be the most well known fighters in the world.”
Asked whether or not he felt he would be ready to headline a Pay Per View should he get a shot at the winner of Saturday’s title fight, Brown responded in the affirmative, saying, “I think my name has grown to the point where I can sell it. Faber is a well-known guy and so is Aldo, so a fight with either of those guys would sell. The featherweights and bantamweights are by far the most exciting fighters in the sport. It’s dynamic, it’s crazy, and it’s fun to watch.”
