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Matt Brown scored himself another performance bonus — just not the kind you’re thinking of.

After 43 fights and nearly 20 years as a professional mixed martial artist, ‘The Immortal’ announced his retirement in March.

“Not doing it again. I’m out,” Brown wrote on X. “That’s the announcement. My life will now be dedicated to serving others. Growing others in the martial arts and building businesses that can help the community and the world.”

While Matt Brown was content with a no-frills announcement, the UFC still chose to pay tribute to ‘The Immortal’ courtesy of a highlight-reel that aired during Saturday’s event in St. Louis. As it turns out, Brown was on a date at the time and just happened the video package moments after arriving at his restaurant of choice.

Matt Brown confirms receipt of his ‘bonus’ on the MMA Hour

In addition to his posts on social media, Brown offered some extra insight during an appearance on Wednesday’s episode of The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani.

“It actually wasn’t a first date. It was a second date, but we went to this restaurant and I had no idea that this restaurant would be playing the UFC. I didn’t even know there was a UFC going on. We sat down and it wasn’t even two minutes later they started playing the montage and she knew nothing about the UFC. When I first told her I was a UFC fighter, she was like, ‘Do you mean a boxer or WWE?’

“And then they started playing the montage and I struggled between having that heartwarming feeling and wanting to shed a little tear and then turning around, looking at her, and just flexing. She was actually pretty cool about it. She was a mature enough lady that she was nice about it and had respect for it, but she wasn’t crawling under the table right then like some girls would.”

Brown’s final appearance inside the Octagon came in May 2023 when he scored a first-round knockout against Cub Swanson at UFC on ABC 4.

Overall, he went 24-19 in MMA with 17 of his wins coming under the UFC banner.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk is almost here.

This Saturday, Fury and Usyk face off for the title of undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Fury puts his WBC heavyweight title on the line against Usyk’s WBA, IBF, IBO, and The Ring heavyweight titles, and the winner will be crowned the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis in 2000.

Fury (34-0-1) is one of the most decorated heavyweight champions in recent history, but recently had an underwhelming performance against lineal MMA heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou when the two fought each other this past October. Fury eked out a split decision victory over the boxing debutant, despite getting dropped in the third round. Now he faces a considerably more experienced opponent in Usyk.

Usyk (21-0) is the 2012 Olympic gold medalist in boxing. He turned professional in 2013 and has been dominant since, becoming the first (and thus far only) undisputed cruiserweight champion in the four-belt era. Usyk then moved up to heavyweight, where he twice defeated Anthony Joshua to claim his current titles. Most recently, Usyk defended his belts with a ninth-round knockout of Daniel Dubois this past August.

The event kicks off at 10 a.m. ET on DAZN with two prelim bouts before jumping to an eight-fight pay-per-view portion, capped off by the heavyweight title fight. You can check out the full fight card below.

Main Card (DAZN and PPV.com at 12 p.m. ET)

Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk — For the IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO heavyweight titles

Jai Opetaia vs. Mairis Briedis — For the vacant IBF cruiserweight title

Joe Cordina vs. Anthony Cacace — For the Cordina’s IBF super featherweight title

Frank Sanchez vs. Agit Kabayel — WBC heavyweight championship eliminator

Moses Itauma vs. Ilija Mezencev — For the vacant WBO Intercontinental heavyweight title

Mark Chamberlain vs. Joshua Wahab — For the WBC silver lightweight title

Sergey Kovalev vs. Robin Sirawn Safar — Light heavyweight

David Nyika vs. Michael Seitz — Cruiserweight

Prelims (DAZN at 10 a.m. ET)

Daniel Lapin vs. Octavio Pudivtr — For the vacant intercontinential light heavyweight title

Isaac Lowe vs. Hasibullah Ahmadi — Featherweight

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When former interim lightweight champion Dustin Poirier entered the octagon against Benoit Saint-Denis at UFC 299 in March, he was coming off a knockout loss to Justin Gaethje in his previous fight.  It could have gone one of two ways: Poirier could have lost back-to-back fights for the first time in his career, or he could’ve dispatched the rising star.  

Saint-Denis had the opportunity to become a contender and jump in the rankings.  He entered the match riding a five-fight winning streak looking to pick up the biggest win of his career.  He was also the betting favorite.    

Saint-Denis took the fight to Poirier in the early going but ultimately “The Diamond” finished the fight in the second round.  Rewatch the win that earned Poirier a title shot against Islam Makhachev at UFC 302.  

Dustin Poirier vs. Sant-Denis Fight Video

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Tyson Fury doesn’t mind a little distraction on the biggest fight week of his life.

On Monday, that distraction came in the form of his father, John Fury, as the always outspoken patriarch of the Fury clan went viral for head-butting a member of Oleksandr Usyk’s team during a chaotic scene in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, causing blood to instantly start streaming down his own face. John Fury has since been unapologetic about his actions, dismissing the situation as something that “happens every other week for me.”

For his part, the WBC heavyweight champ can’t help but laugh about his bombastic father.

“My dad is my Angelo Dundee. He’s my salesman,” Fury said on Wednesday’s episode of The MMA Hour. He just adds so much hype and so many views to anything we do. So, fantastic. That little ruckus he did probably added half a million pay-per-view buys. Crazy. The world was talking about it, even more so than the actual event. It just brings eyes from all over the planet to this event, to Saudi Arabia, so it was fantastic. He’s a promoter’s dream.”

Fury noted that the damage was more superficial than anything — “A little cut’s not going to stop my dad, that’s for sure,” he said — but the entire fracas only elevated the buzz around a fight that marks a historic moment for boxing. With every major heavyweight title shared between them, Fury vs. Usyk is set to crown the sport’s first undisputed heavyweight champion of the world since Lennox Lewis defeated Evander Holyfield in 1999.

Fury vs. Usyk takes place Saturday, May 18, at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh.

It’s a moment long in the making, but also one that almost crumbled to ash before it could even come together. This past October, Fury welcomed former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou to professional boxing and nearly suffered one of the biggest upset losses in the history of combat sports. Despite being a total neophyte in the sweet science, Ngannou scored the only knockdown of the contest and came within a single round on a single scorecard of winning a split decision that could’ve turned boxing upside down.

A Ngannou upset over the lineal heavyweight champion would’ve sunk any chance of booking Fury vs. Usyk for the foreseeable future, but Fury isn’t stuck looking backward.

“Listen, I had a lot of issues going into the Ngannou fight, which I don’t talk about because I don’t make excuses at all,” Fury said, “because I’m not interested, because after the event it’s not worth talking about. So I’m not one of these people who blames an elbow or a trainer or a piano lesson. I’m not interested. It’s in the past.

“I’m a realist myself, so I don’t need anybody to tell me good or bad. I’m not someone who needs a pat on the back … or anything like that. I’m just an original OG, I know if I’ve done good or done bad. Negative or positive comments don’t affect me because they’re just someone’s opinion.”

“You learn from every experience,” Fury continued, “and if you don’t, then it’s not worth having the experience.”

If Fury has moved on, it’s for good reason, because he certainly has his hands full with Usyk. The 37-year-old Ukrainian is an Olympic gold medalist who twice defeated Anthony Joshua to capture the WBA, IBF, WBO, IBO, and The Ring heavyweight titles. He’s also a former undisputed cruiserweight champ whose 21-0 record as professional is as pristine as it gets.

It’s a gigantic legacy fight for both men, but Fury is keeping things simple.

“The man’s a boxer with a pair of boxing gloves on, he’s going to come and try to punch me in the face, I suppose,” he said. “And I’m going to try and do exactly the same to him. So there’s nothing more to it. A lot of people make a lot of stuff up in their minds about like mind games and whatever else, but I don’t know, if you’re going to let something someone says to you affect your performance, then you’re a shithouse anyway, shouldn’t be boxing. That’s a fact.

“I’m just relaxed. I’m relaxed and I’m ready to rock and roll. I’m in good spirits mentally and emotionally and physically, and I can only do what I can do.”

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