"He was what I thought. He was slick on his feet, he was quick; nothing amazing quick, but he was solid. His takedown defense was better than I thought. I got a hold of his hips twice and he wasn't easy to take down. I was actually a little gun shy on shooting my double leg. I had gotten cut a week before the fight and got 18 stitches above my eye and a lot of people didn't really know that… I knew he had very good striking and he's got a lot of knockouts. He's not an easy guy to take down. He's got good defense and he's got good solid striking. He's number 1 in the world right now and it's not going to be easy for anybody to beat him. He's not an easy fight for anybody," stated former WEC featherweight champion Mike Brown as he talked about his recent loss to Jose Aldo, his desire to fight again in January and much more. Check it out!

PC: How is everything going Mike?

MB: It's going alright man. Back on my grind in the gym trying to sort shit out and learn from this last loss, you know?

PC: I was a bit surprised when you told me you were on your way to the gym. How long did you take off after the Aldo fight and how important was it for you to get right back in there?

MB: It was real important. I have some stitches over both eyes, so I still have to be careful about getting banged around, but I just gotta get back after it and learn from it. I want to put it behind me and move on.

PC: You burst onto the WEC scene from obscurity and all of a sudden, you're being mentioned on pound-for-pound lists and being called one of the most dominating 145-pounders. Was that a disadvantage to you going into that fight because you were so accustomed to the underdog role?

MB: I don't know. I felt good. I had a few things on my mind. I wasn't there all the way mentally for that fight, but I was ready. He's fucking good (laughing)! 

PC: You never discredited him in the pre-fight. If anything, you showed him a ton of respect. Was he everything you expected?

MB: Yeah…I mean, I never know. I get nervous for every fight. Even guys that aren't as good, I give credit to. I knew he was going to be tough, but I think every fighter is tough. Leonard Garcia was tough, Urijah Faber was tough and I was able to put those guys away real quick. Sometimes it just goes your way.

PC: Sometimes when you watch a guy on film, it may look more impressive or less impressive than once you are standing across from them. What was it like for you in real speed and real time against Aldo? Was it the same look and speed that you had been watching on tape?

MB: Yeah, he was what I thought. He was slick on his feet, he was quick; nothing amazing quick, but he was solid. His takedown defense was better than I thought. I got a hold of his hips twice and he wasn't easy to take down. I was actually a little gun shy on shooting my double leg. I had gotten cut a week before the fight and got 18 stitches above my eye and a lot of people didn't really know that. I was training with Thiago Alves and I got kneed in the face 6 days before the fight and got 18 stitches above my eye. I had a plastic surgeon do the dissolvable stitches. I was a little afraid to engage and it opened right up during the first minute or so. I knew it was going to happen. I don't think…it didn't matter in the fight because I didn't lose by a cut, but it did make me a little gun shy.

PC: That is crazy. How tough is it going into a fight with a disability that you really don't want to talk about, because I know how tough it is to pull out of a fight?

MB: It is tough because, as fighters, you never want to pull out of a fight and you never want to make excuses. It didn't affect the fight. I have had tons of fights where I didn't even get hit. I have had 28 fights and only in 3 or 4 of them have I gotten banged up. Most of them, I just smash the guy up, take my money and go home. Only a few of them I have gotten dinged up, so I thought maybe I can go in smash him up and take my money and get out of there, but that's not how it went down.

PC: I predicted a 4th round TKO in your favor simply because we hadn't seen Jose fight past 5 or 10 minutes in a long time. I thought you would grind him out. Like you said, it didn't work out that way, but what was the strategy going in? Did you feel your best chance to win the fight was to get it to the ground?

MB: Yeah. I thought…it's always good to be the guy on top, so I thought I could take him down, get on top and beat him up a little. I knew he had very good striking and he's got a lot of knockouts. He's not an easy guy to take down. He's got good defense and he's got good solid striking. He's number 1 in the world right now and it's not going to be easy for anybody to beat him. He's not an easy fight for anybody. I really appreciate you picking me by TKO too; thank you man.

PC: No problem and I'm not just saying that because I am on the phone with you. I thought you would be too much, but he is a tough, tough kid. So your goal was not to particularly try to take him into the later rounds?

MB: I just go out there and try to take them out whenever I can. I don't try to look to drag it into the later rounds. I don't think that way. I do pace myself a little bit so I don't get tired. You can't put the pedal to the metal all of the time. I do prepare myself for 5 rounds. That may have been an issue. I was doing a lot of boxing and a lot of running and I may have lost a little bit of my power by doing so much long distance stuff. I don't know. I just have to go back to the drawing board and tune some stuff up and hopefully come back with a better gameplan next time.

PC: People have always kind of doubted you, even after you became the champion. Does that make this road easier for you to bounce back because you have been here before?

MB: That was a very important fight for me. The title fight, winning the title was a big fight and then equally important was the next one because you have to defend the belt to be the champ. I felt that way and once I defended it, I felt like it solidified me as the champ. I think I need another couple of wins to solidify me as one of the greatest 45's of all time.

PC: What are you currently working on in the gym, being that you have the stitches and can't roll or spar?

MB: I'm just hitting the bag, working out and staying in shape. I'm lifting again and getting strong; nothing crazy. I'm just being active and looking to see who is next.

PC: How soon would you like to get back in there?

MB: I wanted to get on the January card, but that card is already stacked, so I don't know if they could squeeze me in because it is a pretty good card already. I may have to wait until March, but I don't want to wait that long. I want to go in January. I'm not going to stop begging them.

PC: You are an extremely hard worker, so I know you will be back strong. Good luck in landing on that January show. Is there anything you want to say in closing?

MB: I want to shout out my sponsors: TapouT, Champion Nutrition, Bushmaster Firearms and Prestige Audi. You guys can go to my website and find all of my sponsors there at www.mikethomasbrown.com. I have a new TapouT shirt and all of that jazz. You can find it there. I appreciate the love Percy.