Training With UFC’s Matt “The Immortal” Brown

This past weekend Level Up would get an opportunity to train with one of the UFC’s rising stars, Matt “The Immortal” Brown. Matt is riding a 6 fight win streak, his last fight earned him a Knockout of the Night Bonus, and the previous fight a Fight of the Night award. Of the last 6 wins, 5 came by way of KO or TKO, with only one win by decision, which was over Stephen “Wonder Boy” Thompson. Thompson was billed as a new superstar in the making, with his flashy style and traditional martial arts background. Wonder Boy even got the thumbs up from current Welterweight King Georges St. Pierre. GSP’s head striking coach Farais Zahabi claimed that Thompson was “one of the best strikers he’d seen in any sport”. The Immortal was unfazed by the hype, and put on a striking clinic from bell to bell. Fast forward to now, we find Matt preparing for the biggest fight of his career so far. The Immortal faces Carlos “The Natural Born Killer” Condit. Carlos has lost two of his last three fights, but those losses include the Champion St Pierre, and number one contender Johny Hendricks. A win here could put Brown next in line to fight for the Welterweight Title.

Brown’s Coach Mark Beecher moved his camp from his home in Ohio, to Virginia Beach VA. The idea was to be away from home so that the focus could be on the fight only. Matt’s team of coaches include Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black Belt Carlos Carvalho, Muay Thai Fighter Dorian Price Sitmonchai, and Kru Mark Beecher. Each bring a wealth of experience and knowledge into the fight camp. One of Virginia Beaches own, Chase Walden has been a steady sparring partner during the camp in preparation for Condit.  Condit a long lanky striker, has a style unlike many. Mark Beecher asked Chase to put a call out to gyms with guys able to spar with Matt, and when Level Up’s Head Coach Jason Farrell got the invite, he jumped at the opportunity. “I make all my fighters watch footage, I personally spend at least an hour every day studying fights myself. Even for MMA fighters I work with its pretty rare that  I tell someone to watch MMA footage for striking purposes. Matt Brown is without a doubt one of the few exceptions. Any well trained fighter or coach can watch Brown for a couple minutes and see that he is the real deal. I’ve personally been a fan of his for sometime and was extremely excited to get to work with him.”

 

Level Up has been on a the grind since opening up in August. With 10 fights and multiple training trips over the last few months there hasn’t been much down time. This young team is hungry for success, and is looking to make a lot of noise in 2014. This past weekends travel team included Head Coach Jason Farrell, our recently crowned Amatuer Heavyweight Boxing State Champion Luther Smith, 2013 165lbs WKA Kickboxing Champion Patrick Rivera, and Amatuer Kickboxer Will Anderson who is coming off a 1st round TKO victory in his last fight. The team arrived at Olympus MMA in VA Beach about 30 minutes early to get a chance to stretch their legs out after the 4 hour drive. When Browns team showed up, introductions were made, and then the warm up began. Before training started Dorian Price brought every one out to give them specific instructions of how to spar with Matt to mimic Condit. The training was excellent, under the watchful eye of Mark Beecher who has trained talented fighters such as Kevin Ross, Kat Zingano, and was Forrest Griffins striking coach. He also holds multiple titles in Muay Thai. This was a great opportunity for the fighters from Level Up. Luther Smith who plans to fight professionally next year, and Patrick Rivera who will look to fight professionally in MMA in the next couple years were able to learn a lot and grow from this experience.

After roughly 10-12 rounds, we all posed for pictures, and wrapped it up for the day. Everyone was ready to eat so we walked over to a nearby restaurant and grabbed some food. Matt graciously paid for the whole tables dinner, and thanked us for coming out to spar. We said our goodbyes and got back in the car for the long trek home. It was an honor to train with Matt, Mark and Dorian. We look forward to working with them all in the future, and wish Matt the best in his December 14th fight on Fox.

 

 

 

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