Randy Brown to Michael Chiesa: 'You Can’t Just Sit on What You’ve Done in the Past'

Randy Brown couldn’t have drawn up a better finish than the one he authored at UFC Fight Night 235.

“Rude Boy” followed a double jab with a picture-perfect right hand, flooring Muslim Salikhov and earning a knockout victory 3:17 into Round 1 of their welterweight clash at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

“One hitter quitter on a striker like that, it means a lot,” Brown said in a backstage interview with the UFC. “He’s a accomplished so much, and I have so much respect for him, it means a lot. It means a lot to go in and perform and finally show the things I’m capable of.”

While the fight could have easily been halted once Salikhov crashed to the canvas, referee Kerry Hatley hesitated at first. The forced Brown to seal his victory with one mostly unnecessary standing-to-ground punch.

“I didn’t want to hit him again. I really didn’t,” Brown said. “I was like, ‘What is this ref doing?’ The ref was unsure, so I had to do it.”

Brown has quietly been victorious in six of seven Octagon appearances since 2021, but he’s still looking for that signature victory to make him a staple among top contenders at 170 pounds.

“It’s breaking into the Top 10 and working my way up, continuing to put on great performances. I know where i’m headed,” he said. “I’m not saying it just to say that. I know what I do in the gym, I know my ability. It’s a matter of showing the rest of the world what we already know.”

Brown believes a matchup against the likes of Neil Magny or Michael Chiesa would be ideal for his next outing.

“For me, I take it one step at a time,” he said. “… I think I go out there and put on another dominant performances against one of those guys and we keep pushing forward.”

Brown was especially vocal about a potential showdown with Chiesa, who is on a three-bout skid in the Las Vegas-based promotion. “The Ultimate Fighter 15” winner last appeared at UFC 291, where he suffered a first-round submission defeat to Kevin Holland this past July.

“The thing about Chiesa, we agreed to fight multiple times, we’ve had multiple conversations and it just never came to fruition,” Brown said. “I think that you have to be able to fight and protect your ranking. You can’t sit on what you’ve done in the past. You have to show up and prove when there’s contenders coming up.

“If I’m in the rankings, I expect to be active and fight who’s there. I can’t just sit on it and just be there and everyone that wants to get a chance to come in the rankings can’t because there’s guys that just don’t fight and they sit on their rankings. I don’t know how he’s been in there so long without fighting. I’m like, ‘Bro, fight somebody.’ And I think I’m the guy to fight.”