Matt Brown talks about getting sucker punched in Brazil
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}SAN JOSE, CA - JULY 26: Matt Brown reacts after the conclusion of his welterweight bout against Robbie Lawler during the UFC Fight Night event at SAP Center on July 26, 2014 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Matt Brown's week in Brazil ended in bizarre fashion as he was sitting down to lunch on Sunday where he was assaulted by his former coach Rodrigo Botti.
Actually, according to Brown, who tells the story about the entire ordeal on the latest episode of the Great MMA Debate podcast, he was actually punched one time before Botti allegedly fled the scene in great haste.
"I'm sitting there sipping coffee and suddenly I just feel something on the side of my head," Brown explained. "I thought that it was a fan, these fans that were smacking me in the head and that's what it felt like. Or I thought maybe a guy was hitting my shoulder a little bit hard and missed or maybe I moved at the wrong time. I kind of looked at my coach like 'what a (expletive)'. Then I must have realized that I just got punched.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I look and I see a man sprinting to the (expletive) stairs."
Brown says he didn't realize exactly at what moment he knew it was Botti who hit him, but after he knew what happened, he got up from the table and gave chase down the stairs.
According to Brown, Botti allegedly smashed through a door in the hotel to make his escape and by the time he made it downstairs, it appeared as if he had gotten away.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}So Brown did the most logical thing after getting sucker punched -- he stopped to take photos with fans who were waiting in the lobby to meet some of their favorite fighters.
"I get out there and suddenly there's like 10 or 15 fans just standing there and I didn't see Botti anymore, I figured he done ran off and the fans were like 'pictures, pictures!' so I started taking some (expletive) pictures," Brown said.
"I'm sitting there smiling for the cameras and I'm looking around and then lo and behold my friend that I know is here, which I didn't even know he was at the hotel. He said 'what happened, what happened,' I said Botti punched me and then he runs. His eyes lit up like a pit bull off the leash."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The end result was Brown's friend and UFC official Reed Harris capturing Botti as he tried to get away before police could arrive.
Brown goes into further detail about his history with Botti as well as the full explanation of what happened with the assault on Sunday before he flew back to the United States.
Brown also discusses his fight with Demian Maia, his experience at the UFC 198 weigh-ins and what comes next for him following the event.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Listen to the podcast via Soundcloud or download and subscribe to the podcast via iTunes.