Matt Brown On UFC Rankings System: I Don’t Know How This S— Works

No. 7-ranked UFC welterweight Matt “The Immortal” Brown is in a precarious position heading into his UFC Fight Night 40 main event against rising prospect Erick Silva this Saturday night (May 10, 2014) from the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio.

After a tumultuous end to 2013 that saw a back injury force him out of a scheduled UFC on FOX 9 bout with Carlos Condit, Brown received a step down in competition in the talented but inconsistent Silva.

“The Immortal” has won six straight bouts, and believed he should have drawn a top challenger. He recently expressed his frustrations to ESPN.com:

“I don’t really know how this s— works. I don’t know how they decide one person gets this and another gets that. I don’t know. I accepted (Silva) right away but bottom line, I was like, ‘Hey, what’s going on here? Do I get to fight a top-10 guy? What do I have to do?’”

Brown may have a good point, as his recent track record may have him knocking of the door of a potential title shot. But he’s going to have to face and beat some Top 10-ranked challengers before he can stake his claim at gold, and obviously he needs to be scheduled against them in order to do so.

What’s more, the returning Brown is slated as a nearly 2-to-1 underdog against Silva, something that baffles him even more than his lack of Top 10 opponents. “The Immortal” said that “Indio” isn’t on his level, noting that Silva has never beaten a top-level challenger:

“Some of my coaches told me, ‘Dude, I should put money on you. It does not make any sense to me at all. I looked at his record and his fights and he’s never beat anybody really good. I don’t know how good he really is. That’s what I’m going to find out. He hasn’t proven to be as good as me at all, so I have no idea where they came up with these odds.”

For his part, Silva understands where Brown is coming from, yet he’s still glad that he signed on to fight him:

“I understand the position Matt is in. He expected a better-ranked guy and I understand if he feels a little frustrated. I’m happy he accepted the fight.”

Brown can prove all of his doubters wrong by convincingly defeating No. 14-ranked Silva this Saturday night. Despite his surge through the mid-level of UFC welterweights, Brown has yet to face a truly elite opponent himself.

With a win over Silva, he’ll most likely get that chance. He just has to buck the odds to get there.

Photo Credit: Kyle Terada for USA TODAY Sports