UFC 198 fighter Matt Brown had a rough weekend in Curitiba, Brazil, having been assaulted several times in addition to losing his fight to Demian Maia.
It all began at Friday’s UFC 198 weigh-ins when Brown took exception to the raucous Brazilian fans shouting their traditional, “Uh vai morrer” (“you’re gonna die”) chant while he was up on-stage and so he gave them all the middle finger.
Some fans were less than happy about that, and so 24hrs later as Brown made his walkout in front of 45,000 fans in the Arena da Baixada, he was hit on the back of the head several times. On the third occasion, when a fan appeared to grab his hood, he responded, turning around and hitting the thug, who officials later revealed was then ejected from the venue.
“I knew it was gonna be a dangerous walk into the octagon for Matt Brown after flipping off the crowd,” UFC president Dana White wrote on Twitter at the time. “Got hit 3 times walking in 😳”
The actual fight with Maia in the Octagon didn’t go well for Brown, with the BJJ stylist controlling him on the mat for the best part of three rounds before finally submitting him with a rear-naked choke.
The following day, Brown was assaulted again when a man hit him in the back of the head while he was sitting in his hotel, then fled outside.
Video footage later emerged, showing a friend of Brown’s catching up with the man, taking him down and landing several hard blows before UFC officials, including Reed Harris, arrived on the scene to help detain the thug and call the police.
Interestingly, it turns out that this was no random troublemaker, but rather a former coach of Brown’s named Rodrigo Botti who was believed to be seeking vengeance for an alleged incident in the past when he claims to have been assaulted by the UFC fighter.
Matt Brown has so far stayed silent on the matter, but the UFC have released an official statement.
“UFC is aware that welterweight contender Matt Brown was allegedly attacked (on Sunday) by a former acquaintance at the UFC 198 host hotel in Curitiba, Brazil. UFC has been in communication with local authorities to gather more information relative to the alleged attack, and is reviewing security measures at the hotel.
“Fortunately, Brown was uninjured in the situation and will return home to the United States later today as planned.”
