There was a time not to long ago I heard the nickname “The Immortal” and thought, are we talking about a video game? No. Are we talking about the Persians Empire and the movie 300? No? Hmmm…
We are talking about a person. Well… I don’t like him. Because I pass judgment with ease and based on his name alone, I don’t like him. Instead I’ll root for someone with a better nickname. Like, the bulldog or bear killer and so on.
Then I watched a few fights and thought, okay, still not sold on the nickname but I love the way he fights. But after today, sitting and talking with him, I am now, outright sold on the guy and am a huge fan of Matt Brown from this day forward.
Why some of you might ask. And I have an answer right gosh darn here for you. Matt Brown is the way not only a fighter should be, but also the way a man should be. Why he fights and what motivates him (to break people, too feel a man break in his hands) what he does for a living in his own life as a human being. He concerns himself with things large and small so he performs well for us and still goes home to a happy world separate from his fighting world. We as people tend to get caught up in our hero’s. We tend to think that Jon Jones is a great person because he is a great fighter or that Connor McGregor is a nice guy because he says funny things and knocks people out or Chael Sonnen because he is the ultimate funny quick-witted fight taking person. But at the end of the day, it’s hard working straight laced guys like Matt Brown that impress me. Silent hard workers from the middle of no where that helped build this nation, and where ever you are reading this, it was men like him that built your nation.
He fights because to him the greatest feeling in the world is feeling a man break in his hands. He said that, to my face, without blinking. And I laughed, not because I didn’t believe him, but because he meant it and I got nervous and didn’t know what else to do. That is some Genghis Khan level stuff.
He got into the cage with Robbie Lawler and Johnny Hendrix and said, you guys knock people out. Well, lets fight, lets see you knock me out. I don’t want to sound like an Italian right now but in this context I have to. “If that were me” (Italians love saying that) I would take the approach Randy Couture took when it came to fighting boxers. People watching better prepare to see the fastest take down you’ve ever seen in real life. Matt Brown puts his heart out there and loses a part of himself in each and every fight. But he does it because he has to, he is forever cursed to fight his guts out because his driving force and absolute hatred of regret… of not trying, of backing down, or walking away outweighs his fear of being knocked out. People can say that’s stupid or that he shouldn’t fight that way and he should fight smarter or go for spinning heel hooks or this and that. But that isn’t him. And we should be thankful that people like him exist.
It’s not only children that needs heroes. The world needs hero’s. I need them, you need them. We all need someone to look to and say, if that normal guy can do it, then so can I. I can do it. He wasn’t born special or super; he just fights like the world will end if he stops. To me, Matt Brown is my gosh darn hero. He speaks and fights with his heart. His hatred of steroids and how he wants to rally to ban those guys for the rest of their lives. I believe the same thing. I just wish I was giving the stage to say it on, he has that stage and he says it. I’ll say it once more, the guy is a modern Genghis Khan, and the guy is my hero. And it’s for all the reasons and his honesty and decency as a human that I think he should be yours too.
