A longtime welterweight with a consistent record of competition against good names, Randy Brown stepped up after his first loss in five fights to welcome Brazilian fighter Wellington Turman to the division at UFC Jacksonville.
Turman decided to move down from middleweight after his last loss, to Andre Petroski, brought his record under .500 in the UFC at 3-4. Brown’s was quite different at 10-5, though perhaps the weight difference would help Wellington Turman overcome the experience gap.
Despite being from a higher weight class Turman is listed as being three inches shorter than ‘Rudeboy,’ and that height differential was immediately apparent when the fight started as well as the six inch reach disadvantage. Brown came out right away with several jabs while advancing rapidly. He landed some decent strikes and fought his usual rangy style thereafter. Wellington looked to return with looping hooks which Randy was mostly able to just slide back and avoid. Turman did land some good low kicks though, a consistent weakness of Randy Brown’s due to his long legs and heavily forward stance. .
Two minutes in, Brown caused a stoppage after eye-poking his opponent. When the fight resumed Brown landed a front kick to the stomach while Turman landed a straight right to the chin and quite a few calf kicks. Brown defended a takedown attempt and tried to turn the tables but accidentally landed a knee to the groin in the clinch. Randy tried to use his kicks more next from front kicks to leg kicks to head kicks. He threw a flying knee in the final ten seconds and then lifted and slammed his foe to the mat with a body lock right at the buzzer. The round was close and could have gone either way, though the leg kicks of Turman drew the biggest reactions.
Round two began with Randy using his in and out movement to pop with straight punches and try to avoid return strikes. Brown defended a takedown one minute in with his long legs and turned Turman’s back to the fence in the clinch. He landed constant short knees to the thighs and stomach of Wellington for some time. Turman almost turned back to the center of the ring a few times but Randy used his underhook to keep the spin going and regain the outside position. Whether from technique or actual strength, Brown seemed the physically stronger fighter despite not being the one moving down in weight. Turman tried a lateral drop and landed a short elbow. They jockeyed for position and he got a body-lock, using it to try to force Brown to his knees, but Brown stood right back up.
The crowd began to boo with thirty seconds left in the round after almost three consecutive minutes of clinchwork. Randy was able to lift and throw Turman to the ground with twenty seconds left though. Wellington stood back up but Brown leapt onto his back and threatened a rear-naked choke until the bell sounded, likely sealing the round in his favor.
On the feet Randy Brown started the final round with better volume, pot-shotting his opponent as Turman tried to press forward. Turman came forward with a spinning backfist but Randy timed it and landed a flying knee somewhat on the chin. Wellington grabbed that leg and tried to get a takedown but ended up in the clinch. After losing clinch positions in the previous round Turman smartly separated from that area of the fight and looked to strike. Randy slowed down on his volume on the feet throughout the round, though he did find some sharp shots there was nothing that really hurt Turman.
Wellington clinched up but Randy broke free and landed some violent body shots around the midpoint of the round. Turman responded with a good clinch elbow, a strike he landed a few times in the last half of this round, which eventually was shown to have caused Brown’s nose to bleed quite a bit and his eye to swell up badly. Brown got free but that visual was not good for his prospects on the scorecards. He went back to flowing on the feet and landed long strikes but Turman clinched up again. Wellington landed another elbow, showing how different the work in the clinch this round was for him, right before the bell.
A close fight left the scorecards were uncertain after Turman’s late rally in round three. The scores took a while to be tallied and revealed but when they were, Bruce Buffer announced that the decision was unanimous, 29-28 in favor of Randy ‘Rudeboy’ Brown.
Official Result: Randy Brown def. Wellington Turman by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
