Matt Brown training with Jon Fitch for UFC Fight Night
UFC welterweight contender Matt Brown has a new training partner in his camp as he prepares to take on Erik Silva May 10 in Cincinnati - former world title challenger Jon Fitch. For years, Fitch was a top-5 welterweight before being unceremoniously released by the UFC last year.
Brown is known for duking it out on the feet while Fitch is most known for his excellent wrestling. Cagewriter spoke with Brown from his camp in Syracuse, NY recently and "The Immortal" said that the contrast in styles between he and Fitch has proven useful.
"We are very different fighters in that a lot of the things I want to work on, he’s really great at and some of the things we likes to work on, I’m decent at," Brown said.
"Specifically, getting to work on wrestling with him. But, we’re also not so different of fighters after all, you know? (laughs)".
Indeed, both men are well-rounded and, despite their different strengths, each in their own way fight with a blood and guts style. Brown's Brazilian Jiu Jitsu coach recently accepted a teaching job at the gym Fitch works at and moved to from California awhile back.
That re-location of his coach prompted Brown to move his camp to New York as he prepares for the fight with Silva back in his own home state of Ohio. That Fitch has fought and beaten the Brazilian is certainly not lost on Brown either.
"Plus, he fought Erik Silva," Brown said, adding on to the positives of working with the grinding former Purdue wrestling team captain.
"He’s probably spent more time in the ring with Silva than any other person in the world...We talk about him as an opponent all the time. That helps me get a feel for what he may be like to fight."
Brown is returning to action after a serious back disc injury that forced him out of a scheduled fight against Carlos Condit in March. He has the bulk of camp left to go before fighting Silva but so far he couldn't be happier with the experience.
"It's worked out," the fighter out of Columbus said.
"It might make more sense in the future to just live up here so I won’t have to go back and forth for camps. That's something I’ll think about more after the fight."
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