Ohio Prosecutor Drops Alleged Assault Case Against Matt Brown

Welterweight Matt Brown said the truth would come out about his alleged recent beating of a coach, and tonight it appears that he was right.

One week before his pivotal showdown with former champion Johny Hendricks at March 14’s UFC 185, Brown is in the clear following assault and battery allegations stemming from a confrontation with former Brazilian Jiu-jitsu coach Rodrigo Botti.

Brown opened up to MMAjunkie.com today to tell his side of the story, noting that Botti’s story was false and he was guilty of no wrongdoing:

“Yeah, he straight lied. Not even wrong, just straight lied with some of the stuff that he said in public.

“I don’t want my name out being out there and everybody thinking I’m some violent, crazy, I don’t know, coach beater-upper or whatever,” he said. “I’ve got to protect my name; I didn’t do nothing wrong.”

The alleged assault, which took place at the Ohio Combat Club in Hilliard, Ohio, supposedly involved Brown punching Botti several times while the coach was seated at an office desk. Botti also alleged that Brown’s Muay Thai coach was the only other witness and later lied to police during a 911 call by saying Botti had pushed Brown and there had only been one single punch involved.

The Hilliard Division of Police began an investigation for simple assault, but a city prosecutor decided not to go through with the case after viewing the relevant evidence.

Hilliard Public Information Officer Hyda Slone told MMAjunkie.com that the case against Brown would no longer be pursued due to a lack of evidence according to a note from the city prosecutor:

“It appears there’s not enough evidence to prosecute the case,” Slone said, before stating that the case could be opened again at a later date.

Brown also said that the tensions between he and Botti had been building for quite some time, and has since moved on from Ohio Combat Club to train at nearby Strong Style Martial Arts and Fitness Center in Independence:

“I think it turned out for the better. I think that coach was bringing things down and being more of a distraction than anything else, so I think it happened for a good reason. Now we’re up here at Strong Style and we’ve got good guys around us all the time.”

With piece of mind in hand, ‘The Immortal’ can now focus on heading into hostile territory to take on a hungry former champion in his hometown of Dallas, Texas.