The final UFC 189 preliminary bout at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas produced the evening’s first finish, with Matt Brown and Tim Means getting after it for nearly five minutes Saturday until Brown won via submission late in the opening round.
“I’m looking to be a champion still,” Brown, who broke a two-fight losing streak, said. “I ain’t going nowhere.”
Brown was on the offensive early, but Means got into the fight just as fast, briefly jarring “The Immortal” with an elbow at close range. An inadvertent eye poke by Brown brought a momentary halt to the bout, and when it resumed, the Ohioan scored a flash knockdown. Moving the action to the clinch for a spell, the two caught a quick breather before getting back to work. Brown jarred Means with a right kick to the head with a little over two minutes left, and while Means sought a takedown, it was Brown who brought the fight to the mat, albeit briefly. In the final minute, Means bloodied Brown and rocked him with a shot to the head. Brown laughed it off and roared back, hurting Means before getting the fight to the mat and ending it with a guillotine choke that produced the tap at 4:44 of the opening stanza.
Brown ups his record to 22-13 with the win. Means falls to 24-7-1.
