A welterweight showdown between Matt “The Immortal” Brown and Tim “The Dirty Bird” Means has been added to July 11’s UFC 189 fight card, according to an announcement on Fox Sports 1’s America’s Pregame.
Brown is coming off back-to-back decision losses against Robbie Lawler and Johny Hendricks, while Means puts a four-fight winning streak on the line in what will be the biggest fight of his 11-year professional career.
Most recently, Means forced George Sullivan to tap out at UFC on Fox 15 with an arm-triangle choke, establishing himself as a dual-threat fighter in the UFC’s 170-pound division.
Should the fight not reach the ground, though, fans could be in for one of the most entertaining and unique stand-up battles of the year.
Means boasts 16 career victories via TKO/KO, while Brown has scored the knockout in 12 out of 19 career wins. While the numbers alone are impressive, what makes this bout so interesting is the style of each fighter.
Both Means and Brown are incredibly comfortable in the clinch and at close range, firing off with vicious standing elbows and short punches that fluster and rock opponents. It’s an unorthodox approach, but both men have used it to great effect in their professional MMA careers.
In addition to the matchup’s stylistic intrigue, this UFC 189 showdown also offers Means a grand opportunity to launch into the upper echelon of the welterweight class.
While he’s currently unranked, a win over the No. 5 Brown will undoubtedly perk up some ears and put the division on notice.
Conversely, a loss will show he wasn’t quite ready for the division’s top 10, and he’ll be forced to go back to the end of the line to feast on the division’s lower tier once more.
As of now, the UFC 189 fight card is as follows:
Stay tuned to Bleacher Report as the card continues to take shape.
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