Matt Brown reacts following knockout loss to Miguel Baeza at UFC on ESPN 8

UFC welterweight Matt Brown has reacted following his second-round KO loss to Miguel Baeza on the preliminary card at UFC Florida.

After a back-and-forth first round where Brown had Baeza hurt badly at several points, the younger Baeza was able to land a big punch in the second that knocked the veteran Brown to the floor, where Baeza finished him off with strikes for the biggest win of his career. Baeza ended up earning a well-deserved $50,000 bonus for “Performance of the Night” for the most impressive victory in his career so far.

Following the loss, Brown took to social media to release a short statement to his fans. Here’s what “The Immortal” wrote on his Twitter.

Like to thank EVERYONE of you for your support! I love this game and I’ll be back!

— Matt Brown (@IamTheImmortal) May 17, 2020

Like to thank EVERYONE of you for your support! I love this game and I’ll be back!

At age 39 now, Brown is heading into the latter stages of his career, but the Baeza fight showed that he is still more than capable of hanging with younger fighters. Brown controlled the majority of the first round by pushing forward and being aggressive like he usually is, and although he wasn’t able to land the finishing blow, it was still an impressive showing from the vet early on.

Unfortunately for Brown, one of the trademarks of being an older fighter is the wear-and-tear that you suffer over the years. After going the first 34 fights of his pro career without getting knocked out, Brown has now been knocked out three times in his last five fights, to Baeza, Donald Cerrone, and Jake Ellenberger. The wins over Sanchez and Saunders showed that he can still dish it out with the best of them, but at this point in his career Brown is no longer the iron-chinned fighter he was earlier in his career. Still, as his statement makes clear, he plans to continue fighting.

What do you think is next for Matt Brown?