Mike Brown is ready to bang with Jose Aldo in a possible candidate of 'Fight of the Year'.
Mike Brown enters a new era of his featherweight title reign in the WEC.
He’s actually entering the bout as a favorite.
Brown is considered a favorite in his upcoming bout with 23-year-old knockout artist Jose Aldo Wednesday at WEC 44 at The Pearl in the Palms in Las Vegas. Brown, whose last three bouts included Urijah Faber (twice) and Leonard Garcia in Texas, hasn’t lost a fight in nearly four years, and he doesn’t expect this fight to be the one that ends his winning streak.
“Some people like to think I’m a favorite,” Brown (22-4) said. “[Jose’s] fans think he’s going to crush me. I have momentum on my side this time. It feels a little different.”
Brown is considered by many to be the top featherweight in the world, and his status is highly regarded even by WEC general manager Reed Harris who stated that if Brown beats Aldo, Brown may go down as “the greatest featherweight of all time.”
Brown is fully aware of Aldo’s striking prowess, as 10 of Aldo’s 15 fights have ended with a knockout including an eight second destruction of Cub Swanson at WEC 41.
But it’s the ground game that Brown has focused on as well.
Aldo is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, and fans wouldn’t have known given his desire to stand and trade. Aldo’s last submission victory not due to strikes: March 19, 2005.
Brown, however is thankful that he has his teammates at American Top Team, who have single handedly transformed his ground game.
All of Brown’s defeats have come via submission with his most recent being in December of 2005 against Masakazu Imanari on a DEEP card in Japan. It has been the only fight during Brown’s stint with American Top Team in which he has tasted defeat, and Brown was quick to point out that he tore his ACL in the fight.
“I thought I was controlling the fight when [the injury] happened,” Brown said. “I’m with so many world class jiu-jitsu guys, with ATT and it helps. ATT has been improved that my part of game.”
Brown, like many fans, haven’t seen any of Aldo’s jiu-jitsu game, meaning that he’ll get to test it live if the fight goes to the ground.
It’s no concern to Brown, because he views his submission game as one of his strengths.
“It’s hard [to prepare for his ground] because he doesn’t have a lot [of footage],” Brown said. “All the fights I’ve seen he’s stayed on his feet, but a few older fights when he does go to the ground. He doesn’t go to the ground often.
“My submission game is my strength now. It used to be a weakness.”
As for Aldo’s esteemed striking. That should be an issue, considering some of Brown’s training partners include Gleison Tibau, welterweight contender Thiago Alves and most recently Kimbo Slice.
“We have a really well-rounded camp,” Brown said.
There is only one way the fight can finish in Brown’s mind — one man going out.
“Someone is going down for sure,” Brown said. “If I fight I like can, I can beat anyone in the world. There is only one way to find out and throw down on the 18th, and someone is going down.”
