UFC 217 at MSG: Brown gets no love in victory over Gall
Randy Brown ( right) defeats Mickey Gall by unanimous decision in a welterweight bout at UFC 217 at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, November 4, 2017. Credit: Mario Gonzalez
Randy Brown was a little disappointed after his victory at UFC 217.
Brown, the only New Yorker on the card, had hoped to have the Madison Square Garden crowd behind him. But during the Queens fighter’s bout against popular New Jersey prospect Mickey Gall, fans chanted “Let’s go Mickey” at full volume.
“That’s the UFC hype machine man, it is what is,” Brown said. “I was shocked. I’m a little disappointed in New York. I’m from Queens, I’m from here and I didn’t get the love that I expected, but it is what is.”
Brown can live with it after taking a decision victory over Gall in a chippy fight between two up-and-comers, winning on all three score cards (29-28, 29-28, 29-27).
“Hype is hype, man,” Brown said. “The realness is in the cage.”
Opening the fight, Brown looked to apply pressure. The pair soon tied up against the cage with Brown looking for the takedown, landing one after softening up Gall with knees and keeping him down for the remainder of the round. Working in side control, Brown landed a few hammerfists, but a scramble found him in Gall’s guard. With a minute left in the round, Brown made an effort to work his ground strikes, maintaining control and landing some elbows that cut Gall in the closing seconds.
In the second, Gall looked to load up on his punches, but Brown forced the action and Gall shot for a sloppy takedown that Brown reversed. Soon after, however, Gall swept and found himself on top. As the crowd chanted, “Let’s go Mickey,” Gall continued to slice through Brown’s defense on the ground. With about 20 seconds remaining, Gall mounted Brown, only for Brown to sneak out the backdoor.
“Obviously second round, being on bottom, we want him to get out,” said Matt Culley, Brown’s manager and training partner at Budokan Martial Arts Academy in Lynbrook. “But he was dominant in Round 1 and Round 3, so we were pretty secure in the victory.”
Brown loaded up on a big punch to open the third, causing Gall to lose balance. Brown took advantage and went in swinging, ending up on top in Gall’s guard and keeping him from getting away from the cage. Brown landed strikes when the opportunity presented itself, but didn’t force the issue as Gall struggled. Unable to get up with about a minute left, Gall went for a guillotine that sent the crowd into a frenzy, only for Brown to slip out.
“It was slippery, the blood made it slip down a little, but it’s jiujitsu, man, I do that,” Brown said.
Brown eventually stood with 10 seconds left, wagging his finger at Gall to get up. After the horn, Brown and Gall each landed a late shot, but neither was penalized as the fight went to the judges.
With the win under his belt, Brown will regroup before making his next move, but he has a few names on his mind.
“We’ll see how it goes, there’s a lot of guys in my division I would like, one of them being Neil Magny, I think that’s a nice fight, me and him would make a great fight, put on a show for the fans and all that, but we’ll see what everyone thinks.”
