Randy Brown was expected to face George Sullivan at UFC 208, but the latter was forced to pull out of the bout due to a potential doping violation. Brown, who currently boasts a 9-1 professional MMA record, is now expect to square off against fellow welterweight prospect Belal Muhammad in the event's preliminary card.
It is worth noting that Sullivan was already facing a one-year ban from fighting for a similar incident, according to MMA Junkie. His suspension was supposed to expire at the January, which made him eligible to fight on Feb. 11 at UFC 208. However, an out-of-competition drug test earlier this month may extend his time out of competition.
Brown began his career as a professional mixed martial artist back in May 2014 at the Ring of Combat promotion. He was undefeated in his six fights at Ring of Combat and even managed to become welterweight champion with two successful title defenses during his time there.
He was victorious in his UFC debut back in January 2016 against Matt Dwyer, but was submitted in his next match against Michael Graves. He has bounced back in an impressive manner and is currently on a two-fight win streak coming into his bout against the 10-2 Muhammad.
Muhammad has had a fairly similar MMA career path to Brown. He started out in the Bellator and Hoosier Fight Club promotions before making his way to Titan Fighting Championships, in which he held the welterweight crown. He was unsuccessful in his UFC debut after losing via a unanimous decision to Alan Jouban and has since amassed a win and two losses in the promotion.
Brown has a lot less to lose compared to his opposition. He is younger and has a better record coming into the fight at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. If Muhammad were to lose this fight against unranked opposition, he would drop down to two wins and two losses in the UFC, which will put his contract in serious jeopardy and force him to fight his way back to the big stage through smaller promotions, according to BJPenn.com.
Watch Brown talk about his UFC debut in the video below: