Randy Brown thinks Jack Della Maddalena will upset Islam Makhachev
UFC Fight Night 264 headliner Randy Brown spoke to MMA Junkie and reporters at media day for his welterweight bout vs. Gabriel Bonfim
LAS VEGAS – Randy Brown has long been proud to represent Jamaica on the big stage. Now that the platform is bigger than ever, Brown (20-6 MMA, 14-6 UFC) is giving back.
In the wake of Hurricane Melissa, Brown has pivoted his charity foundation to assist those in need who are struggling with the devastation that killed over 60 people in late October.
“I have family who has been affected and friends and all that stuff,” Brown told MMA Junkie at a pre-fight news conference Wednesday. “I decided we can maybe do something to help them. I’ve created a foundation that’s been up and running for about a year. It’s more to help the inner city youth and unprivileged kids to learn martial arts for free and be able to train and maybe potentially become MMA fighters. We decided to help with some relief.”
Brown said he asked the UFC to match his own relief contribution. The promotion didn’t just match – it went above and beyond.
“We set up an account and have been taking donations and everything, so the UFC stepped in as well,” Brown said. “I asked them to match something that I put in and they went above and beyond – way above and beyond, and went past what I asked them to match. I just want to shout them out for that because they didn’t have to do that. For anyone that’s interested, it’s called the Randy Brown Foundation. You can go ahead and check it out.”
It’s been a long journey for Brown toward his first UFC main event. He battles Gabriel Bonfim (18-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) in the UFC Fight Night 264 headliner Saturday at the UFC Apex, and plans to make Jamaica even more proud.
“What needs to happen is I need to be first, be fast, and be myself and just go out there and do what I do, just keep it on the feet as much as I can,” Brown said. “But I’ll welcome a few exchanges, a few grappling exchanges. Once he realizes I’m not just a dead fish on the ground, I think that’s when things will take over for me.”
