Focused and Ready, Jake Brown will Never Give Up

Jake Brown

By Randy Thomas

Often times, diverse circumstances lure fighters into the sport of mixed martial arts. For MCC lightweight contender, Jake “Dirty Bird” Brown, it took heartache and loss to push him towards finding MMA in his life by releasing his aggression in the cage.

In the Summer that Brown graduated from high school, his mother lost a two year battle to colon cancer. Three years later, his youngest sister, Kaydie was lost in an accident. During this time his life became overwhelming and he saw himself starting to lose control. “My life was in a tailspin from 18-21. At that point I decided I wanted to put myself in a position where I could be a voice of influence to younger people, but I wasn’t sure how. When I was 22 I found mixed martial arts, which probably saved my life on many levels,” stated Brown.

Coming from a wrestling family, which included sixteen children, Brown, who started wrestling at just three years old, wanted to do something productive with the lessons he’d learned throughout his life. Brown wrestled for Nodaway Valley and the team finished his senior year undefeated. The competitive fire never left him when his wrestling career ended.

“Dirty Bird” entered the world of mixed martial arts with two quick victories on a small fight circuit in rural Iowa. It was there where he met Lance Hood, a veteran of the sport who had retired from competition and focused on training up and coming fighters. He also met MCC favorites, Jesse Lund and Josh “The Bull” Christensen.

Undefeated, following one more quick knock out victory in Waterloo, he was approached by the MCC matchmaker. Brown recalled, “I was offered a fight against John “The Hurricane” Halverson. I took the fight on short notice and lost very quickly! I was out matched at that point of my career and lacked the knowledge to compete at that level.

Following his first defeat he managed to rack up two more losses by triangle choke. The previously undefeated fighter found himself with a three and three record. With doubt on his mind he wondered if this was the right sport for him.

However, when opportunity came knocking at the door, once again, Brown answered. Ryan Langmaid pulled out of his fight with Jake Brown, following making weight for his bout. Aaron Garrett, who was an outstanding 4-0 jiu-jitsu fighter, stepped in on day of notice with complete confidence. Brown won the fight in the very first round. It was just the win he needed to keep him motivated.

But soon thereafter, Team Hood closed its doors which forced Brown to stop training completely. It seemed as though the end of his career had come.

On a whim, he decided to take a fight against MCC contender, Paul Bird. He wanted to get back into the sport he missed so much. With no training camp or banner to fight under, all he managed to do was make a fight of it for a few minutes. When Bird snatched up an arm bar, it was over.

At that show he got to meet and talk with former MCC Featherweight Champion, Will Shutt. Shutt had moved back from Oregon and was training in Creston with a small group of fighters. Brown needed the knowledge that Shutt possessed, and even on the night of defeat, he saw light at the end of the tunnel.

He started training every day with Shutt. He soaked up everything he could. He focused on his ground game. Brown was not giving up his dream. The group formed Team Vicious, and set up camp at Henry Tae Kwon Do. They housed a small but very talented stable of fighters.

Brown’s next fight was against Steve “Black Jesus” Lawrence. In what became the fight of the night, from bell to bell it was a three round back and forth battle. The skills he had learned in his short time with Shutt paid off. He was able to submit Lawrence with a shoulder lock at the final seconds of the third round to end the fight. Although this was his most impressive performance to date, Brown broke his hand, which sidelined him once again.

And when he came back, he came with a vengeance. He faced former boxer, Colby Karaidos, and ended the fight with a highlight worthy 24 second knock out.

Next on the list was Jeff Carstens, a fighter who had submitted him with a triangle choke in their first meeting. After surviving an extremely hard uppercut to the chin, Brown was able to return the favor. He was able to catch him in a guillotine choke to end the fight. Now he was on a roll.

Just a few months later, he signed on to fight highly regarded prospect, Alex Harper. Once again, Brown was back in the win column, with another knock out in the first round following an exciting back and fourth battle.

Now… He is set to take on the former MCC Featherweight Champion, TJ “The Spider” O’Brien, at MCC 24. With the motivation of his past life experiences, and the championship belt he’s had his eyes set on for three years, Brown is intent on making this opportunity pay off. He is aware of the devastating triangle choke that O’Brien is known for. He knows that O’Brien has a huge reach advantage over him. It doesn’t matter to him. He feels that it’s his time, and in the words of “Dirty Bird” himself, “If he wants the belt, he’s going to have to come take it….by force!”