Matthew Burton Brown (born January 10, 1981) is an American former professional mixed martial artist who competed in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) from 2008 until 2024. Brown gained entry into the UFC after competing on the seventh season of The Ultimate Fighter television series, and had success as a top 5 contender.
At the time of his retirement, Brown held the record for the second highest number of wins by knockout in UFC history with 13. .
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Background
Brown was born and raised in Jamestown, Ohio. After being home schooled for two years, he attended Greeneview High School, where he struggled to fit in. Living in a small town with no foreseeable future outside of a low paying factory job as a machinist, Brown grew frustrated and turned to drugs and alcohol. For a period, he was addicted to meth, regularly used cocaine and would often get into fights at parties. By his early twenties he had survived a heroin overdose (which led to his nickname "The Immortal"), had been homeless and had been to prison. Brown's interest in MMA started with drunkenly practicing various submission holds that he had seen on VHS tapes featuring Ken Shamrock on friends.
In what started as a cocaine-fueled trip to see his friend fight, Brown signed up to his first fight on a few hours' notice. He purchased a mouth piece from across the road, boiled it in a nearby restaurant and fought his first fight without any training; despite this he ended up winning. Brown fought again in the same night and was beaten badly, losing a decision. His first formal training was at a Japanese jiu-jitsu gym, where he agreed to another fight in two weeks with Muay Thai rules. In what was actually a sanshou match, Brown wound up losing by decision and went to work the same night. He later transitioned to a Jorge Gurgel affiliate, which led him to full MMA training.
Mixed martial arts career
Early career
After compiling an amateur record of 2–0, Brown made his professional MMA debut in the fall of 2005, winning via submission.
On February 9, 2007, in Kennesaw, Georgia, Matt Brown won the ISCF (International Sport Combat Federation) East Coast Welterweight Championship over Douglas Lima by referee stoppage due to strikes at 2:50 of the second round.
Brown thought his career was over due to money problems, yet The Ultimate Fighter trials came along and he was selected to be on the show. He then began splitting time training with Matt Hume in Seattle, Washington and at Throwdown Training Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The Ultimate Fighter
Brown was chosen as one of the thirty-two fighters to get a chance at a six-figure UFC contract in The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rampage vs. Team Forrest. He officially entered the show after defeating Josh Hall by TKO in the preliminary round. Brown moved on to the quarter-finals by defeating Jeremy May in the first round via head kick KO. He faced eventual winner Amir Sadollah in the quarter-finals but lost by triangle choke in the second round.
Ultimate Fighting Championship
Brown won his UFC debut at The Ultimate Finale 7 by defeating Matt Arroyo, a season six contestant, via second-round TKO. The fight was a rematch from their 2007 fight, which Brown took on a few hours' notice and also won via TKO.
Brown lost his second fight in the organization by split decision to Korean Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 88. Kim threatened Brown with a rear-naked choke from back control in the first round, but became exhausted in the second round. In the third, Kim used some effective ground-and-pound and cut Brown with an elbow. All three judges scored the bout 29–28, two of them in Kim's favor and one in Brown's favor. The decision was contested by the partisan American crowd in attendance with noticeable booing. Commentator Joe Rogan announced during the post-fight interviews that he believed Brown had won the fight.
After Matthew Riddle sustained a knee injury during training, Brown replaced him at UFC 91 and fought Ryan Thomas. Brown won by armbar in the second round.
Brown next fought at UFC 96 on March 7, 2009, in which he fought Pete Sell. Brown defeated Sell via TKO in the first round.
Brown was scheduled to fight on the TUF 9 Finale card against Anthony Johnson. However, Johnson pulled out of the fight after injuring his knee during practice. The UFC set out to find a replacement for Johnson but Brown pulled out as well, to heal up some nagging injuries.
Brown faced James Wilks at UFC 105, defeating him via TKO in the third round. Brown landed a flying knee during the second round that knocked Wilks to the canvas and in the third round, Brown escaped a near fight ending submission attempt by Wilks to take top position. After obtaining full mount, Brown landed multiple unanswered strikes, causing the referee to stop the fight, awarding Brown his third straight UFC win and taking his overall UFC record to 4–1.
During a radio interview held by MMAWeekly, Brown stated he would like to fight Renzo Gracie for his next fight. Instead, Brown faced Ricardo Almeida on March 27, 2010, at UFC 111. Brown lost the fight by rear-naked choke in the second round.
Fight Circus
In 2024, Brown acted as a referee for The Ultimate Dick Kicking Championships, a crotch kicking competition organized by Full Metal Dojo's Fight Circus in Thailand. Some fans compared the event to Dana White's Power Slap. Brown reposted the footage of the event to his X account and seemingly endorsed groin-kicking over slapfighting by adding the caption: "So much for power slap! "This shit is next level!"
On January 12, 2025, Brown acted as the partner of UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman when he returned to the ring and competed at Fight Circus 12 in Phuket, Thailand in a "wheelchair boxing match" against the CEO of the promotion Jon Nutt. Brown was pushing Coleman around the ring, as both fighters were strapped into a wheelchair and were pushed by their cornermen. At the end of the fight, both men stood up from their wheelchairs and Coleman knocked out Nutt at the last second. Brown also competed in the event and fought "Blobtang" in a Muaythai match.
Personal life
Matt Brown is the owner of Immortal Martial Arts Center, and the co-founder and Co-owner of Immortal Coffee.
Before fighting professionally, Brown was a personal trainer.
Brown is an avid heavy metal fan, and was in the crowd when former Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell was murdered on stage while performing with his new band Damageplan on December 8, 2004. Brown approached heavy metal vocalist Jamey Jasta of the band Hatebreed to write his UFC entrance theme song. The song, titled "The Immortal", was released on iTunes on March 10, 2015.
Brown also appears on The Great MMA Debate podcast alongside Mark Coleman, Damon Martin, and Jeremy Loper.
On the morning of May 15, 2016, in Curitiba, Brazil, Brown was attacked in public by his former jiu-jitsu coach Rodrigo Botti. The assault began in the hotel lobby where Brown was staying, and escalated outside where it was witnessed by a number of bystanders. The attack was captured on video and Botti was detained by another man until the police arrived at the scene.
After his fight with Jake Ellenberger, Brown recalled having serious post-concussion symptoms, often slurring speech and having trouble with short-term memory. His wife, Colleen Brown, has also stated that Matt's memory is "not as sharp as it once was". He stated he has doubts continuing to fight due to his concussion. Months later he was knocked out by Donald Cerrone via headkick.
Brown's moniker, "The Immortal", was coined by his friends after his drug overdose and near death experience.
I came really close to dying," Brown said. "I [overdosed] on heroin. … They said I was clinically dead for over a minute. I was in that mindset that there was nothing else to do. I could get drunk everyday and I'll still be (stuck) here, or I could go to college and I'll still be (stuck) here. [Overdosing] was one of the best things to happen to me. When that happened it woke me up and I was like, 'Man, I got to do something. My friends were like, 'Man, you are [expletive] immortal, huh?' And I thought, 'If I could beat all of that stuff, I could beat anything.
Championships and accomplishments
Ultimate Fighting Championship
Fight of the Night (Four Times) vs. Jordan Mein, Erick Silva, Robbie Lawler, and Bryan Barberena
Knockout of the Night (One time) vs. Mike Pyle
Performance of the Night (Four times) vs. Erick Silva, Diego Sanchez, Dhiego Lima, and Court McGee
Tied (Vicente Luque) for second most Post-Fight bonuses in UFC Welterweight division history (9) (behind Chris Lytle)
Most knockouts in UFC Welterweight division history (13)
Second most knockouts in UFC history (13) (behind Derrick Lewis)
Most finishes in UFC Welterweight division history (15)
Tied (Dustin Poirier, Vicente Luque & Max Holloway) for fifth most finishes in UFC history (15)
Second most bouts in UFC Welterweight division history (30) (behind Neil Magny)
Third most wins in UFC Welterweight division history (17)
Tied (Jake Ellenberger) for third most knockdowns landed in UFC Welterweight division history (11)
Tied for fourth most consecutive knockouts in UFC history (5)
UFC.com Awards
2012: Ranked #4 Fighter of the Year & Ranked #8 Upset of the Year vs. Mike Swick
