LAS VEGAS – Bryan Barberena was crushed when he learned Matt Brown wouldn’t be able to make Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 31. The forum in which he got the information didn’t help, either.
Barberena was 11 days out from his welterweight bout with Brown and pleased with his preparation going into the final stretch of camp. He was spending some of his downtime playing video games when a viewer on his live stream informed him Brown had announced a positive COVID-19 test on social media.
The news caught Barberena way off guard, he said, and his subsequent reaction was one of shock.
“Definitely crushed in a sense – right away the initial reaction was just heart dropped,” Brown told MMA Junkie at Wednesday’s UFC on ESPN 31 media day. “Everything fell to a standstill. I was playing video games, streaming, and someone in my chat was like, ‘Man I’m so sorry, I saw Brown tested positive for COVID.’ I was like, ‘What?’ I got a text like, ‘Sorry man, I heard about the fight.’ I was like, ‘What is going on here?’ I went on social media and looked. I went to his page and sure enough he had posted on there. I’m like, ‘All right guys, I’m getting off. I need to figure things out.’
“I was just kind of stunned at first. It lasted probably like 30 minutes, though. You got to work on getting the mind right. I talked to (UFC matchmaker) Sean (Shelby) and he said he was working on getting me somebody, so right away I like, ‘OK, it’s done. Nothing I can do about it. Let’s refocus. There’s nothing I can do.’”
All Barberena (15-8 MMA, 6-6 UFC) wanted in the aftermath of Brown’s withdrawal was a new fight. It took time, though, and on Tuesday a matchup with promotional newcomer Darian Weeks (5-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) was made official for the card, which takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and airs on ESPN.
Barberena was thankful that Weeks stepped up and took the opportunity, because Barberena was absolutely adamant he was fighting at UFC on ESPN 31.
“I had no idea who I was going to fight,” Barberena said. “I told them, ‘Get anybody, I don’t care. I am fighting next Saturday.’ (Shelby) said, ‘OK, I will find somebody. You will have somebody.’ I got on the plane not knowing who I was going to fight this week. Got here, still didn’t know. Didn’t really matter because I’m ready to fight. I’m ready to fight anybody.”
UFC on ESPN 31’s Bryan Barberena learned of Matt Brown’s withdrawal on video game stream
