Matt Brown fought like Matt Brown usually does, and Stephen Thompson was unable to stop him. Brown picked up a unanimous decision victory over the previously-undefeated striking prodigy by continually taking him down and beating him up on the floor. Wonderboy definitely had his moments, staggering Brown more than once with punching combinations, but his takedown defense needs a lot of work. Both fighters gassed late in the second, and it was Brown's experience and heart that guided him through a third round where he almost got the finish. Either way, he got the W.

Brown came out attacking right away, but ate some Wonderboy side kicks. Brown got really low looking for a takedown, but Thompson got away. Brown was relentless as expected though, and worked Thompson against the cage long enough to grab a leg and get him to the floor. Brown looked to land a few strikes and methodically looked to pass guard. Thompson used his legs well to push off and scramble back to his feet, but immediately had his back against the cage again. Brown landed a trip briefly and latched onto Thompson's back. Thompson was up briefly, but ended up back down. Brown looked for a leglock and Thompson briefly reversed, but Brown got back on top to end the first stanza.

Wonderboy looked to get his striking going right away in the second, throwing an array of kicks. Brown responded with a high kick and a shot in for a single leg. Wonderboy went down briefly, but popped up and landed a couple of knees in the clnich. Brown retreated, then shot in with a double and got it down again. Once again though, Thompson got back to his feet. Thompson landed with some solid punches that seemed to hurt Brown. Brown looked pretty tired at this point, and Wonderboy continued to land winging punches. Thompson had nothing on his kicks and looked pretty tired as well. Out of nowhere, Brown landed a big standing elbow that dropped Thompson. Brown worked in his guard, landing short elbows and cutting Thompson open. Brown stacked him up and landed some hard punches. Brown moved to side control and threw with all he had, but couldn't get the finish before the horn.

Brown looked a little fresher in the third, landing first. Thompson had little power on his kicks, but his punches still had some bite. Brown threw some head kicks, which just looked weird. Thompson connected steadily with his left, then a big combo that had Brown staggering back. Brown came back with a takedown, but Thompson got back up. Thompson resumed his combinations, but Brown locked up the thai clinch and kick-tripped Thompson to the floor. Brown worked from side control trying to get to mount and eventually locked up the mounted crucifix briefly, then switched to a mounted triangle. Brown rained down punches while Wonderboy tried to defend. Matt looked for a straight armbar, but the final horn sounded.

Both of these fighters won their last bouts at UFC 143. Brown defeated Chris Cope by TKO, while Thompson knocked out Dan Stittgen with a beautiful head kick.

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