“Downtown” TJ Brown returns to action at UFC 282, knowing that things could have gone very differently in his last outing.
Brown (16-9) dropped a unanimous decision to Shayilan Nuerdanbieke earlier this year, and believes that in part, it’s due to getting too comfy fighting off his back.
“I got complacent on bottom, and just wasn’t in enough hurry. I was attacking from bottom, but sometimes like in the third, I probably spent a little too much time on bottom,” Brown admitted, speaking to The Top Turtle MMA Podcast on Cageside Press a few weeks out from UFC 282. “And that could have swayed the judges.”
“I’m just looking at it as man, there’s things I could have done better in that fight, and I’ve adjusted since then, and I’m ready for the next one,” Brown added, later noting that “I pressed the gas, but I pressed it too late. In fights, you’ve got to be on for every second of the fifteen minutes.”
Next up, TJ Brown is paired with Contender Series vet Erik Silva, who will be making his promotional debut in the featherweight fight.
“There’s levels to this game,” Brown noted, adding that to say Silva is anywhere near the level his last opponent would be far from accurate.
As for the deficiencies he sees in Silva, “the first thing that stands out for me is just experience. You just look at who he’s fought, he hasn’t really fought anybody. I think experience is going to be the biggest difference factor in this fight. You’re going to see a huge change in the tide, if it makes it that long, after the first round.”
“Who he’s fighting now, I’m going to welcome him to the UFC. There’s just levels to this, and I’m excited to show everybody that that’s the case.”
That welcome party will come with an arena full of fans, and that’s a first for Brown since the pandemic started. “This is part of the reason that I do it. I love to be under the lights. I enjoy that atmosphere,” Brown said on having fans back. “It’s electric, when you’ve got the right arena. It’s one of the reasons I do it, man. I’m just excited to be in the T-Mobile, get that energy back again. Get in there and just perform. I love performing, and that’s what I plan on doing in front of a packed T-Mobile Arena.”
At least part of that packed house will be comprised of fans from Brown’s native Arkansas. After all, both he and fellow Arkansas native Bryce Mitchell are on the card.
“Dude, you guys are gonna be blown away by the support coming out to Vegas. I’m hearing left and right, people are coming out of the woodwork coming to this fight,” said Brown.
“Arkansas will definitely be in the house.”
TJ Brown faces Erik Silva in a featherweight match-up as part of the UFC 282 preliminary card on Saturday, December 10, 2022.
