Former WEC featherweight champion Mike Brown seemingly would have an advantage over the dozens of other WEC fighters who are now headed to the UFC following a highly anticipated merger.
After all, prior to this WEC title run, Brown (24-6 MMA, 6-2 WEC) logged cage time in the UFC.
However, the American Top Team fighter, who now meets Diego Nunes (15-1 MMA, 4-1 WEC) at Saturday's UFC 125 event, told us, his experiences in the WEC actually were better preparation for MMA's big stage.
As a fairly unknown and undersized lightweight, Brown signed with the UFC in 2004 and took on a fighter he truly admired: Genki Sudo. Brown suffered a first-round submission loss, though he admits he was in over his head back then.
"I was definitely outgunned and overmatched back then," he said. "I was small for the weight. I was still training in Maine back then. I was way outgunned. I was brought in to lose. ... He was a heavy favorite. But I loved it. It was a great experience. I'm a huge fan of the sport; that's why I got into it. Genki Sudo is actually my favorite fighter."
Brown fought almost exclusively in regional Massachusetts-based promotions until that UFC fight, and he admits the experience was a little overwhelming. Although he carried a seven-fight win streak into the fight, he never truly felt he belonged. And the fact that a highly anticipated first meeting between Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell headlined the card left the Las Vegas crowd buzzing and the pressure that much more intense.
Fighting an idol didn't help.
"I was starstruck," he said. "I was like a deer in the headlights. I had a chance, I still swung hard and did my best, but I wasn't thinking out there like I should be. I was just fighting, as opposed to using my head and using strategy."
Brown soon hooked up with the Florida-based ATT camp, frequently traveled to Japan, and won nine of his next 11 fights. Then came a contract from the WEC, where he defeated Jeff Curran in his promotional debut before winning the belt from then-champ Urijah Faber in just his second WEC outing.
Each WEC fight got bigger – and louder – and by the time he defeated Faber in a rematch at WEC 41, more than 13,000 pro-Faber fans packed ARCO Arena in Sacramento, Calif. It remains the most successful show in WEC history, and the magnitude of the night provided Brown valuable lessons for Saturday's return to the UFC, which comes at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
"The first UFC fight didn't prepare me (for UFC 125) because I was on the undercard," he said. "What prepared me was those big fights in the WEC. When I fought in Sacramento against Urijah, there were like 16,000 people there. It was packed. It was going crazy. That's the same as the UFC. The crowd was same when Chuck Liddell fought Tito Ortiz the first time; the crowd was going bonkers. That's how it was when I fought Urijah."
After a successful title defense over Leonard Garcia and the rematch win over Faber, Brown widely was considered the world's No. 1 featherweight fighter and a seemingly unbeatable champion. But he then lost his belt in violent fashion to Jose Aldo, and two fights later, suffered a quick and stunning loss to Manny Gamburyan.
"I think I've got to prove myself again," he said. "But I think that's the case for most fights. I had to prove myself against Urijah the first time. I had to prove against Leonard that I was really the champ. I had to beat Urijah again to prove it wasn't a fluke. At that point, I was well established. But then I lost a couple and people are talking bad again that I'm not that good. So I have to prove myself again."
Against Nunes, Brown has a chance to get back in the title picture. His opponent has lost just once in 16 professional fights, and the Brazilian posted a stellar 4-1 mark in the WEC.
It's just the fight Brown wanted.
"He's good, and he's got a great record," he said. "He's fought a lot of world-class guys. He's never been finished. He's definitely a world class-fighter and in the top-10. This is a fight that gets you a title shot."
So is this a potential opportunity to earn a rematch with Aldo?
"I think so," he said. "I don't know if they'll give it to me, but I think that's the type of fight that will do it. You've got to beat top-10 guys to get the title shot, and he's a top-10 guy."
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