When Mike Brown finally decided in 2014 that his fighting days were over, he didn’t make an announcement. An offhand comment from Joe Rogan during a UFC broadcast served as official notice.

After a litany of injuries, including a persistent neck issue that forced surgery, Brown’s transition from combatant to coach came gradually in the public eye. Behind the scenes, though, he’d been groomed for the job by management at American Top Team, who spotted his talent for translating MMA knowledge and gave him a part-time coaching position when he lost the WEC featherweight belt.

That job replaced another one at the Florida gym: front desk clerk. If you called the gym for hours and directions, you might have spoken to Brown.

By the time Brown got back to Florida on the heels of a knockout loss to Steven Siler at UFC Fight Night 26 in 2013, he’d already been traveling the world with fighters from the team, learning the nuts and bolts of what it took to be a head coach. When he decided to hang up his gloves, it didn’t take long before he was asked to lead training camps. Once a corner, he was now in charge.

More and more, the stars who trained at American Top Team – Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Amanda Nunes, Dustin Poirier, Santiago Ponzinibbio, Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal, among others – began to sing Brown’s praises in pre- and post-fight interviews.

This past year saw Brown emerge on the national stage as an MMA head coach and strategist. No longer a former fighter holding pads, he turned around lagging performers and further refined standouts in the octagon.

Of course, like many well-known coaches working this past year, Brown had his share of high-profile setbacks. The biggest was Jedrzejczyk, who lost the UFC strawweight belt to Rose Namajunas after her fifth title defense against Jessica Andrade.

But there were plenty of successes. Nunes defended her bantamweight belt against the insurgent Valentina Shevchenko. Poirier went 2-0, stopping ex-lightweight champ Anthony Pettis, and arguably would have been 3-0 had a foul been correctly called against Eddie Alvarez. Ponzinibbio went 3-0 with a stoppage of Gunnar Nelson and decision over the fearsome Mike Perry. Covington beat Demian Maia, a bittersweet accomplishment considering the public fissure it created with current and former coaches and fighters at ATT. Just in time for New Year’s, onetime UFC flyweight title challenger Kyogi Horiguchi won the RIZIN FF bantamweight title.

The gym chain based in Coconut Creek, Fla., has produced dozens of standout fighters over the years. Very few of them, however, went on to become standout coaches. Talent in the cage doesn’t guarantee the patience and wisdom needed to teach an extremely nuanced and complex sport. In 2017, however, Brown was able to make the jump and find a new identity.

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