Despite hurting his foot badly in round one, Randy Brown would survive and defeat Jared Gooden in the UFC Vegas 39 co-main.
The co-main event of UFC Vegas 39 was a welterweight scrap between Randy Brown and Jared Gooden. One that technically wound up as a catchweight after Gooden missed the mark by 3lbs at weigh-ins on Friday.
Brown accepted the fight, and 20% of his opponent’s purse, no doubt happy to be fighting. But as he later pointed out on social media, Gooden wasn’t exactly a UFC vet, meaning that 20% was a relatively small amount of money. Meanwhile Brown was giving up the advantage in weight, and perhaps in energy too, depending on how seriously Gooden tried to cut those last three pounds.
Brown came out nice and loose early, but Gooden soon was able to take him down briefly and get the back. Brown recovered quickly however and landed a big knee in the clinch while exiting. Brown then landed a huge front kick over the middle that wobbled Gooden badly. Gooden survived though and quickly began targeting the legs of Brown. Brown was sharp with his jab and his right uppercut. Gooden did a great job of surviving the early onslaught from Brown, but it was a lead for Brown after one round.
Brown’s corner focused on his toes in between rounds, as he apparently hurt them with the front kick in round one. But that didn’t stop Brown from opening round two with some head kick attempts. However it wound up being the right hand from Brown that had the most success in round two. Gooden did a great job of working his jab, staying active, and landing leg kicks. But Brown had the biggest moment of the round, as he hurt Gooden with a straight right hand in the final seconds of the round.
After a closer second round, Brown did his best to erase all doubt in the third frame. Brown, despite the injury, was still the more accurate striker and did a great job of finding a home for his jab and continued battering Gooden with the right hand. Brown did his best to get Gooden out of there to no avail, and Gooden himself did some good work down the stretch of the fight with leg kicks and a takedown in the final seconds— but it was too little too late.
Official Result: Randy Brown def. Jared Gooden by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
