And once preparation is settled, all that’s left is the fight, but as Brown knows, the best training camp in the world can go for naught in a split second before or during the match.
“If you think about it, you’ve got 15 minutes to get it done,” he said. “There’s been a lot of fights where I won and maybe if that fight happened ten minutes earlier, he probably would have won. It’s just a picture in time of where you’re at in that exact moment. And that’s what this sport is – you’ve got those 15 minutes and you gotta get it done right then.
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„That’s why I’m so impressed with guys like (Kamaru) Usman and Jon Jones – these guys that go on these undefeated streaks – because we all have bad days in there, wake up on the wrong side of the bed, have a tough weight cut. I’ve had things happen in the locker room five minutes before I walked out, and to be able to put all those things behind you and go out there and perform, that truly makes a special fighter.”
He may not admit it, but Brown is a special fighter. No one has nearly 14 years in the UFC without being one, and more often than not, he has performed when the lights are brightest. Some can’t, at least not consistently, and that’s what makes MMA so compelling.
“It’s the beauty and the curse of this sport,” said Brown. “That’s certainly what makes the stakes so high, and when those guys are getting announced by Bruce Buffer, that’s what makes it so intense. This is your time, and this is your only time, buddy. That’s what makes it so great. I just hope that people can recognize that and show the respect. I just hate when someone loses and they’re like, ‘He sucks,’ and things like that. They just gotta look past that and see it for what it is.”
Reading the comments is a downside that has become a greater part of being a professional athlete in this day and age, and Brown believes it’s more prevalent in MMA than in other sports.
