Athletes
RANDY BROWN THRIVING IN VARIOUS ARENAS
Ascending Welterweight Discusses Media Ventures, UFC 302 Main Card Clash
Randy Brown gingerly walks up four smaller than normal stairs, stepping carefully as to not stumble or fall, compacting his six-foot, three-inch frame onto a little stool to the point that his knees are nearly parallel with his shoulders.
A neon New Balance sneaker on the end of a tattooed ham hock follows on the steps, wisely working sideways, taking the miniature staircase two-at-a-time as hip-hop star, foodie, and UFC mega-fan Action Bronson clambers into a chair that looks two sizes too small.
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The two men sit no more than 18-inches apart in a perfect shrunken replica of a standard office cubicle, complete with drop ceiling, fluorescent lights, a clock, and a whiteboard that reads “UFC 300 Tiny Office Picks” with each of their Instagram handles.
“For me, it’s about being multi-faceted as a human being and being more than a fighter,” Brown says of the Tiny Office series, a project built in collaboration with the people at Meta that resides on his RudeBoy Studios YouTube channel. “I’m an athlete, but I’m also a human being that is multi-layered and has multiple interests, and I think it’s cool to show that, and to show the other side of the world how big MMA is, too.
Randy Brown Fight Week Interview | UFC 302
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Randy Brown Fight Week Interview | UFC 302
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“There are so many people in the world that love MMA — they’re in a different field, but they love what we do, so I figured we’d get a couple guys in there to talk about the sport and a few other things,” continues Brown, who has also been joined on the series by actor Patrick Wilson from The Watchmen, the Aquaman series, and some of the more successful horror franchises in recent years.
“We tend to get put in a box as athletes; people tend to put us in a box as ‘just this’ or ‘just that, but I’m so much more than just a guy that fights in the cage. My personality has layers to it, my interests have layers to them; I just happen to be focused and locked in on this one thing, this goal to become world champion. But besides that, there are things that I like and it’s been pretty cool.
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“I think it’s massively important, especially for the young guys coming up: meeting people, not being stuck in that box, in that world of MMA where we’re sometimes labeled as ‘meatheads’ because it goes deeper than that.”
A self-declared “low-key nerd” that built his own PC and kitted out a home studio with aspirations to eventually blow out his YouTube channel and dip his toes further into the media pool, for now, all the projects Brown is working on for his channel are a side hustle; a little something extra to give fans a fuller picture of who he is as a person, since most people only get to see him for the 15 minutes or less he spends inside the Octagon and the handful of interviews he does before and after each UFC appearance.
Seeing athletes branch out into other ventures often spurs questions of whether they’re committing enough attention to their “day job,” whether that takes place on a court, field, rink or inside a cage. There is this misaligned notion that professional athletes must be hyper-focused in their pursuit of their craft, and that investing in living a well-rounded life is somehow a sign that they don’t want to be as great as their maniacal counterparts.
But a quick look at Brown’s resume over the last five years and the highlights from his last outing render all those concerns moot, as the 33-year-old welterweight stalwart heads into his UFC 302 matchup with Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos with an 8-2 record over his last 10 fights and coming off the best performance of his career.
“I am getting better every single time I’m in there, and it shows,” Brown says with a smile, acknowledging that the line is uttered by fighters so frequently that many pass it off as fighter-speak and pay it no mind. “I’m better every time. I’m a different person. I continue growing and my evolution is televised live, and people see it in the gym.
“When I say it, I’m not just saying it to sound good or sound cool: I’m really getting better each time and yes, I’m coming into full form, man, and it’s gonna be something on June 1.
“I can’t wait to show y’all.”
Brown showed his continued evolution and how sharp his skills have gotten earlier this year, when he faced off with dangerous veteran Muslim Salikhov in Las Vegas.
After opening cautiously and getting a sense for how his opponent moved and reacted as they exchanged, Brown shouted to his coaches, “I see it! I see it!” before uncorking a swift, smooth, powerful one-one-two combination, touching Salikhov with each jab and floating off to the left just a touch each time before driving home the right cross that ended the fight in a flash.
“We knew the one-two was gonna be the one,” begins Brown, recounting the strategy cooked up ahead of time and how he implemented it inside the Octagon. “He’s a kickboxer and kickboxers settle when they don’t feel threatened as the round goes on. That’s why I never really sat on anything early — it was just pot shots, fast shots.
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“I kept floating to his ‘power side,’ which you’re not supposed to because of the kicks and the overhand right, and once he got comfortable, my coaches told me, ‘He’s ready for it.’ We practiced it and the one-two was gonna be there for me every time. So I kept floating, kept floating, double-jab, and he stopped on the jabs because he was gonna plant to try to throw with me, and the two just beat him to it.
“I knew I was faster, I knew I was more powerful, and when it landed, nobody can take that right hand.”
Saturday night in Newark, New Jersey, Brown will get to test out whether or not Zaleski dos Santos can deal with dynamite packed in his right hand and the other assortment of weapons he’ll carry with him into the Octagon, as the two face off in the opening bout of the pay-per-view main card.
Like Brown, the Brazilian veteran has crafted an excellent overall record under the UFC banner, touching down at Prudential Center on a three-fight unbeaten streak and brandishing a 10-3-1 record overall in the UFC. Both men have been residents of the “Second 15” in the 170-pound weight class for some time, hovering just outside the rankings.
While he lobbied for an opportunity to face a ranked opponent following his emphatic win over Salikhov in February, that isn’t how things played out, leaving Brown with no choice but to shake his head and smile.
“That’s the welterweight division for you,” he says, laughing, when asked about being paired with Zaleski dos Santos, another dangerous, unranked opponent. “It’s funny because this fight is secretly a rankings eliminator — whoever loses this fight will never be in the rankings; that’s it. Whoever loses, that’s it; the door is shut.
“He’s dangerous in many different ways,” continues Brown, offering his assessment of the Brazilian. “He’s super-aggressive, super-durable, and has cardio; those are the main things. Skill set-wise, I don’t think he’s a great puncher. He does have power, but he’s wild. He’s a non-stop grinder, and he’s there. Whatever I give out, he’s gonna try to give it back to me immediately; he’s that kind of fighter.”
After touching down in the UFC after just six professional appearances, navigating an uneven start, and building himself into a divisional stalwart in one of the most consistently competitive weight classes in the organization, Brown is secure in himself and isn’t worried about receiving plaudits and praise because time has a way of evening things out in the end.
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“Time has a way,” he begins, pausing to find the right words. “Time is a motherf***** because time tells all.
“I know where I’m at, my team knows where I’m at, we all know what’s up, so it’s just a matter of time. When you truly believe in yourself and you believe in that, it is what it is, and I’m not worried about it; we’ll get there.
“The credit amongst my peers? I’m respected, and if the fans don’t know, they will know, so it is what it is.”
UFC 302: Makhachev vs Poirier took place live from Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on June 1, 2024. See the Final Prelim and Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses, and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
