Top-ranked welterweights Matt Brown and Tarec Saffiedine are set to tangle on Feb. 14 in the main event of UFC Fight Night in Broomfield, Colorado. UFC President Dana White announced the match-up at Monday’s ‘The Time is Now’ press conference.
Brown (19-12), ranked No. 5 on the UFC’s media-generated welterweights rankings, looks to rebound after watching his remarkable seven-fight win streak meet its end with a unanimous decision loss against Robbie Lawler.
The setback killed what had become a magical title run for the 33-year-old Brown, a former struggling TUF product who turned his career around with six finishes over seven fights, including a 29-second knockout of Mike Pyle and a harrowing come-from-behind TKO victory over Erick Silva.
Likewise, Saffiedine (15-4) now looks to pick up the pieces after seeing a lengthy win streak screech to a halt against an upcoming welterweight UFC title challenger. In this case the culprit was Rory MacDonald, the Canadian who outclassed Saffiedine en route to a third-round TKO finish last October.
Saffiedine, the divsion’s No. 8 ranked contender, racked up five consecutive wins prior to his first UFC loss, highlighted a surprisingly dominant unanimous decision over Nate Marquardt to become the final Strikeforce welterweight champion.
UFC Fight Night: Brown vs. Saffiedine takes place at Broomfield’s 1stBank Center. An updated fight card can be seen below.
- Matt Brown vs. Tarec Saffiedine
- Brandon Thatch vs. Stephen Thompson
- Max Holloway vs. Cole Miller
- Tim Elliott vs. Zach Makovsky
- Ray Borg vs. Chris Kelades