Jamaican UFC Welterweight Randy Brown.
Jamaican Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight Randy Brown will get another chance to display his skills when he competes at UFC 302 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on Saturday.
The 33-year-old will take on Brazilian Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos in a three-round bout to open up the five-fight main card of the event to be headlined by a UFC Lightweight Championship main event between current champion Islam Makhachev (25-1) and former interim champion Dustin Poirier (30-8).
Makhachev is currently ranked as the number one pound-for-pound MMA fighter in the world.
Brown enters this fight with a record of 18-5 including wins in six of his last seven fights with his only loss coming by submission against Australian Jack Della Maddalena, currently the UFC’s fifth-ranked welterweight, at UFC 284 in Perth last February.
“Just being more deliberate,” was Brown’s response when asked what has led to his recent success at UFC 302 media day on Wednesday.
“Not really just throwing out different things at once. Having a better understanding of the tools that I have and being able be deliberate with those things instead of doing too much. Sometimes less is more,” he added.
His opponent Dos Santos is four years his elder and has more experience, coming in with a record of 24-7. His last three fights have earned him two wins and a draw.
Brown, while acknowledging the edge dos Santos has in experience, believes his style will be too much for the veteran.
“I think he’s good. He’s a crafty vet who’s been around a long time. He’s experienced, seen it all. I think our styles match up well and I think the fans are in for a treat,” he said.
“I’m expecting top form. Like I said, he’s been around and seen it all. Styles make fights and I think I have a great style to hinder his abilities and he has a great style to bring the best out of me. It’s a matter of who can go out there and initiate their game plan,” he added.
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Brown overcomes broken foot to defeat dos Santos by unanimous decision at UFC 302
Jamaican Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight secured his third win in a row and seventh win in his last eight fights with a unanimous decision victory over Brazilian veteran Elizeu Zaleski Dos Santos at UFC 302 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on Saturday.
The 33-year-old Brown won two out of three rounds on all three of the judges scorecards to move his overall MMA record to 19-5.
Despite the win, Brown, in the post-fight interview, maintained that he still has work to do to get to where he needs to be to be a top contender.
“Still not happy. We got work to do. Skills pay the bills,” Brown said.
Brown then gave love to his Jamaican fans.
“You know I have to big up Jamaica. I have to big up all my people. We’re here on the biggest stage doing a lot. Big up Spanish Town, Old Harbour, the whole of St. Catherine,” Brown said.
The night could’ve gone much differently for Brown as he fought the final two rounds of the fight with a broken foot.
“I broke the foot close to the big toe knuckle at the instep,” he told SportsMax.tv on Tuesday.
“It happened one minute into the first round,” he added.
When asked about who he wants to fight next, Brown called out number 10 ranked Welterweight, Geoff Neal.
“Come on Geoff Neal, it’s my time. I didn’t get the finish tonight but I’ve got to get to the top 15. I’m on a mission right now. It’s my time and I’ll do whatever it takes,” he said.
“Geoff Neal, you are that guy right now and I need you. Come on let’s do this. You don’t have a fight so let’s go,” he added.
Neal is 2-3 in his last five fights and has an overall record of 15-6 in MMA.
Edwards to defend UFC Welterweight title in rematch against second-ranked Belal Muhammad at UFC 304 in Manchester
Jamaican-born British Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight Champion Leon Edwards now has a date and an opponent for his next title defense.
The 32-year-old will try to fend off number two-ranked Belal Muhammad in the main event at UFC 304 set for July 27 at the Co-op Live in Manchester, England.
Edwards will enter the fight in the midst of a 12-fight unbeaten streak while Muhammad is unbeaten in his last 10 contests.
The pair fought previously at UFC Fight Night: Edwards vs Muhammad on March 13, 2021 in Las Vegas. That bout ended in a no contest after an accidental eye-poke by Edwards in the second of five rounds rendered Muhammad unable to continue.
After than unfortunate fight, Edwards went on to defeat fan favorite Nate Diaz by unanimous decision in the main event at UFC 263 in Glendale, Arizona on June 12, 2021.
His next fight proved to be his crowning moment as he secured a spectacular head-kick knockout of Kamaru Usman to claim the UFC Welterweight title at UFC 278 in Salt Lake City on August 20, 2022.
Heading into that fight, Usman was on a 20-fight win streak and was the number one pound-for-pound fighter on the planet. The Nigerian also had a win over Edwards back in 2015.
Edwards then went on to defeat Usman again, this time via unanimous decision, in their trilogy fight at UFC 286 in London on March 18, 2023 before defending his belt for the second time with another unanimous decision win over Colby Covington at UFC 296 on December 16 last year.
Muhammad has also been on a tear since that eye-poke.The 35-year-old recorded unanimous decision victories over legends Demian Maia and Stephen Thompson at UFC 263 and UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs Daukas, respectively, to close out 2021.
He then secured a third consecutive unanimous decision win, this time beating Vicente Luque in the main event of UFC Fight Night: Luque vs Muhammad 2 on April 16, 2022.
At UFC 280 on October 22, 2022 in Abu Dhabi, Muhammad won performance of the night for his knockout win over Sean Brady and in his last fight, he defeated former title challenger Gilbert Burns via unanimous decision at UFC 288 on May 6, 2023 in New Jersey.
Conor McGregor to make his long-awaited return to UFC on June 29
Conor McGregor will make his long-awaited return to UFC on June 29 after nearly three years out.
Dana White confirmed that the former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion will fight Michael Chandler at UFC 303 in June.
McGregor – who has 22 wins and six UFC defeats – has not competed in the UFC since July 2021 when he sustained a horrific leg break against Dustin Poirier, who he had previously fought and lost to six months earlier.
Speaking about the fight, White said on Saturday that McGregor’s return had been “all about timing”.
“There’s all kinds of things that go on behind the scenes and it’s all about timing. Chandler’s been ready but Conor hasn’t been ready,” White said.
“We talked about this in one of the press conferences recently, he had a lot of obligations that he had to deal with.
“What you don’t want him doing is accepting a fight when he’s got a ton of obligations and he can’t train 100 per cent for a fight, so here we are tonight.”
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