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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Former WEC Champ Mike Brown was supposed to return to action this Saturday night at UFC on Fox 11, but had to pull out of the event due to injury. Though he's not officially retiring right now, he said this week he's highly doubtful that he'll have another fight.
"I don't think I'll fight again," Brown said in an interview with MMAJunkie.com. "I haven't retired, just in case, because I don't want to be a guy who walks away and comes right back."
Brown says he accepted the booking at UFC on Fox 11 despite battling a lingering neck issue, and ultimately that's what forced him to pull out.
"I accepted it like seven weeks out, but my neck was kind of bothering me and it's too much on my neck," Brown said. "I was training and in good shape, but then I started losing some strength in my hand again. When I get banged in the head some of my grip strength goes away and it's just a reoccurring injury."
"When I had the fight, I didn't really want it. My body was bothering me, and then right when I pulled out I was like, 'Oh man, I should have just done it and worried about my neck later.' Now I'm feeling better about it. It was the smart decision to pull out."
"It's hard when you've got only one hand that's working properly. I can't hold onto anything with my left. If I try to grab somebody's wrist they can easily pull away because my strength is gone. Usually in a month or two, that strength comes back, but if I bang my head and get a stinger, it goes away again. It's just continuously active."
At 38-years-old, Brown is looking ahead to concentrating on a coaching career, and is concentrating his efforts down at Florida's American Top Team.
"Coaching is something I've always wanted to do since I was younger," Brown said. "I wanted to coach pro fighters, high-level guys because I love the fight game. I got lucky to be at ATT doing what I love. I would do it for free, and I'm really lucky to do what I do.
"I'm lucky I'm at American Top Team. I'm already in coaching, so I'll be right into a coaching role and staying involved in the sport and doing what I love."
If Brown is done, he goes out off a knockout loss last August to Steven Siler in his first fight in well over a year as it was.
Penick's Analysis: It would be a bummer to have his run end off of injury like that, but at his age and with the injury issues he's had through his career, it might just be time. He had a good run, and got to be at the top of the 145 lb. field for a time, even if it was short, and if coaching is next up for him, he's likely to do well in that role also.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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