Matt Brown is retiring, but he won’t be exiting the USADA testing pool

On November 11, in the co-main event of the UFC’s anticipated trip to Norfolk, welterweight brawler Matt Brown will partake in his final fight. His opponent will be former UFC lightweight title challenger Diego Sanchez – a fighter who is more than likely to oblige him in the kind of slugfest he’s hoping for.

While Brown indeed intends to hang up the gloves after this scrap with Sanchez, he is not prepared to entirely close the door on his fighting career.

“I didn’t get into this to be a journeyman, or to be in second place, I came into this to be a champion and I got very, very close to that,” Brown said on the MMA Hour (h/t MMAMania). “I think I was one round away from beating Robbie Lawler and getting to a title shot. Being that I got that close, right now, I don’t feel like I have that hunger inside my heart that’s going to get me back to that point and that’s not to say I won’t ever come back one day. I don’t plan on pulling out of the USADA testing pool and I don’t plan on canceling my UFC contract because I’d like to keep that just in case there. But I’m not going to come back unless I plan on making a run for the title.”

Over the course of his applause-worthy career, Matt Brown has picked up wins over top-flight foes like Douglas Lima, John Howard, Chris Cope, Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, Mike Swick, Jordan Mein, Mike Pyle, Erick Silva, and Tim Means. Unfortunately, he is a tough 1-5 in his last six, having recently lost to Robbie Lawler, Johny Hendricks, Demian Maia, Jake Ellenberger, and Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone.

How do you think Matt Brown will do against Diego Sanchez? Do you think this will really be his last fight?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 9/26/2017.