I get it. Matt Brown is the feel-good story of what? The weekend, the week? Last year or two? Three? At one point he was 12-11, we wondered why he was on the roster, and now he’s on a seven-fight winning streak that is no longer a gentle tap on the shoulder to Sean Shelby and Dana White, it’s a knock over the head with a sledgehammer.
He shouldn’t however, be the next in line to get a title shot. Not yet at least.
Matt Brown hasn’t defeated a top ten opponent in this fantastic run of his. And while the rest of the top 7 in the welterweight division are up and down (outside of Hendricks), they have one big notch on their belt and bulletpoint on their resume – a top ten win.
That’s not to say Brown can’t get into a title shot this year. Things happen, as we know, and so do injuries and weird shakeups in the UFC. It was only this week Johnny Hendricks was able to begin light training after shoulder surgery, and the way that Johnny likes camps (long), that means we won’t see a welterweight title defense until late 2014 at best. Realistically October/Nov timeframe.
So that leaves more than enough time for the contenders to shake out. And let’s be honest, who doesn’t want to see Brown fight anyone in the top ten, from Saffiedine, to Woodley, MacDonald, Lawler, Ellenberger. I’ll watch.
Dana made this final last night.
