Matthew Burton Brown[6] (born January 10, 1981) is an American former professional mixed martial artist who competed in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) from 2008 until 2024.

Brown gained entry into the UFC after competing on the seventh season of The Ultimate Fighter television series.

Living in a small town with no foreseeable future outside of a low paying factory job as a machinist, Brown grew frustrated and turned to drugs and alcohol.

Brown's interest in MMA started with drunkenly practicing various submission holds that he had seen on VHS tapes featuring Ken Shamrock on friends.

He purchased a mouth piece from across the road, boiled it in a nearby restaurant and fought his first fight without any training; despite this he ended up winning.

His first formal training was at a Japanese jiu-jitsu gym, where he agreed to another fight in two weeks with Muay Thai rules.

[7] After compiling an amateur record of 2–0, Brown made his professional MMA debut in the fall of 2005, winning via submission.

On February 9, 2007, in Kennesaw, Georgia, Matt Brown won the ISCF (International Sport Combat Federation) East Coast Welterweight Championship[1] over Douglas Lima by referee stoppage due to strikes at 2:50 of the second round.

Brown thought his career was over due to money problems, yet The Ultimate Fighter trials came along and he was selected to be on the show.

He faced eventual winner Amir Sadollah in the quarter-finals but lost by triangle choke in the second round.

Brown won his UFC debut at The Ultimate Finale 7 by defeating Matt Arroyo, a season six contestant, via second-round TKO.

Brown lost his second fight in the organization by split decision to Korean Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 88.

After Matthew Riddle sustained a knee injury during training, Brown replaced him at UFC 91 and fought Ryan Thomas.

[13] However, MacDonald withdrew from the card with an injury and replaced by Brian Foster,[14] who defeated Brown by submission (guillotine choke) in the second round of their bout.

[20] However, main card participant Martin Kampmann was forced out of his bout with John Howard with an injury and Brown was chosen as his replacement, while Attonito faced Daniel Roberts.

Brown was expected to face British fighter John Hathaway on November 5, 2011, at UFC 138, replacing an injured Pascal Krauss.

Brown faced Luis Ramos on June 22, 2012, at UFC on FX: Maynard vs. Guida, replacing an injured Matthew Riddle.

[29] Brown won via TKO due to punches and elbows to the body in the second round, the win also earned him his first Fight of the Night bonus award.

[33] Brown was expected to face former WEC Welterweight Champion Carlos Condit on December 14, 2013, at UFC on Fox 9.

[38] Brown faced Robbie Lawler in a 5-round Welterweight title eliminator bout on July 26, 2014, at UFC on Fox 12.

[48] Brown was expected to face Kelvin Gastelum on November 21, 2015, at The Ultimate Fighter Latin America 2 Finale.

[57] However, Brown was pulled from the fight on November 11 in favor of a matchup with Donald Cerrone three weeks earlier at UFC 206.

[60][61] Brown connected with a brutal elbow strike that knocked Sanchez out cold, winning the fight by knockout in round one.

[65] After one year rehabilitating his injury from torn ACL, Brown returned to face Ben Saunders on December 14, 2019, at UFC 245.

[89] Brown reposted the footage of the event to his X account and seemingly endorsed groin-kicking over slapfighting[90] by adding the caption: "So much for power slap!

"[91][92] On January 12, 2025, Brown acted as the partner of UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman when he returned to the ring and competed at Fight Circus 12 in Phuket, Thailand in a "wheelchair boxing match" against the CEO of the promotion Jon Nutt.

[97][98] Brown is an avid heavy metal fan, and was in the crowd when former Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell was murdered on stage while performing with his new band Damageplan on December 8, 2004.

[99] Brown approached heavy metal vocalist Jamey Jasta of the band Hatebreed to write his UFC entrance theme song.

[100][101] Brown also appears on The Great MMA Debate podcast alongside Mark Coleman, Damon Martin, and Jeremy Loper.

[103] After his fight with Jake Ellenberger, Brown recalled having serious post-concussion symptoms, often slurring speech and having trouble with short-term memory.