In Pursuit of Immortality: Matt Brown's journey from small-town Ohio to UFC warrior

LEWIS CENTER, Ohio – For the past 14 years, “The Immortal” Matt Brown has wowed UFC fans with his penchant for violence. The fact that his 12 knockouts in UFC fights are tied for the most in company history proves that. But if it had been up to his family, he would’ve gone down a different path.

Brown grew up in the small town of Bowersville, Ohio, in an “uber-conservative” family and with a father he described as “borderline abusive.” Brown was supposed to be a machinist and take over his father’s shop some day. And while he loved to build, he knew from a young age that he was meant for something greater.

Enter mixed martial arts, which changed his life forever.

“When I started and I walked into that gym, I said, ‘This is what I’m going to do until the day I die’ – period,” Brown told MMA Junkie. “This is what I love. I tell everybody I married this sport. And I’m a committed husband. I’m going to die on the mats one day. There’s nothing else I really want to do.”

When he started fighting professionally in 2005, Brown never could’ve dreamed of making it big on the simple notion that nobody knew if the UFC would even survive at that time. Still, he was hooked on MMA regardless.

“I knew I was a committed martial artist for life, and there wasn’t anything else that I wanted to do with my life,” Brown said.

Now 41 and before a hometown fight with Bryan Barberena at UFC Columbus, it’s the perfect time and place to reflect and look ahead.

In the video feature above, Brown opens up about his humble beginnings in MMA, how drugs and alcohol could’ve ruined his life, his undying love for the sport, how much longer he can fight, being a good father to his kids, UFC Hall of Famer’s Mark Coleman’s influence, and much more.