Matt Brown vs. Tarec Saffiedine headlines the UFC's return to Colorado
Valentine's Day may traditionally be known as a holiday filled with love in the air, but this year it will be fists in faces as the UFC returns to Colorado on February 14 with a welterweight main event with fireworks written all over it.
Matt Brown, who returns to action while looking to restart a seven fight win streak that was just recently stopped, faces former Strikeforce welterweight champion Tarec Saffiedine in his third consecutive main event since joining the promotion in 2014.
The new five round bout will headline the UFC Fight Night card landing in Broomfield, Colorado on February 14 and air live on FOX Sports 1.
Brown (19-12) most recently lost a unanimous decision to current No. 1 title contender Robbie Lawler in a five round war back in July. Prior to that loss, Brown had racked up seven straight wins with six of them coming by way of knockout or TKO.
Now the fighter most synonymous with violent finishes in the welterweight division gets a stylistic matchup that returns him to his roots.
"This is why I like a fight like this," Brown said on the latest Great MMA Debate podcast (listen below). I do so much work on my wrestling and my jiu-jitsu and grappling, which I love, and have really come to embrace and love that side of things, but you can't forget where you came from. I think that's where a lot of people make mistakes.
"You can't forget who you are. You can't forget where you came from. You can't forget your base and foundation and keep that your base and foundation. That's where with this fight I can kind of get back to who I am."
Meanwhile, Saffiedine (15-4) was riding high when he came into the UFC after beating Nate Marquardt in early 2013, while establishing his leg kicks as one of the most formidable weapons in the entire division. Unfortunately injuries kept Saffiedine sideline for an entire year and when he returned he ended up facing a late notice replacement in his first fight.
Saffiedine got the win, but then sat out again for another long stretch of time before getting snuffed out in his last bout against Rory MacDonald in October. The upcoming main event fight against Brown will likely be a fresh start for the Belgian born fighter as he tries to get back in the thick of the title hunt starting with this matchup.
