Fighter vs. Writer: Matt Brown Blasts Toxic MMA Fandom After Anthony Smith’s Arrest, Reacting to PFL-MVP Merger

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**Damon Martin** (1:26)
I'm Damon Martin. He is UFC legend Matt Brown. And Matt, we are back for the attack after a couple week layoff as you were down in Costa Rica, had a little kind of vacation combo slash running a seminar down there. So how was Costa Rica?

**Matt Brown** (1:42)
Man, that's how I do my vacations. I like training all the time. So even if I'm on a vacation, training makes it so much better. Sometimes there's a lot of people, they go vacation, they just completely relax and drink or do whatever they do. Man, when you go and you train and you bond with some good friends and meet some cool people, which is what the retreat is, right? We get usually like 10 to 15 people come out and sometimes there's new people, sometimes it's repeat people. I think we had four from last year.
But a bunch of new people, right? You get to learn about them and just connect on another level and train and then hit the beach and surf and eat some fresh mangoes. Well, last year, not this year, we went fishing and caught a tuna, brought it back and ate it. We actually caught two tunas, brought it back and ate it.
It's a beautiful thing, man. We were just hot off air, right? I was at a different place after the retreat and disconnected for four days, no service, no Internet. And all we did was farm all day. Well, not farm, but it's a farm that we're on, like a fruit farm. So we went out, picked mangoes and limes and golden berries and liche. You know what liche is?

**Damon Martin** (3:02)
Ever heard of it?

**Matt Brown** (3:03)
Yeah, they're freaking awesome. You know, so just picked all these fruits, brought them back, ate them, and got to do it with the family. Like that's a whole new connection with the family when they can't, you know, get on ChatGPT and see what this fruit is. It's like, yeah, we got to figure it out, you know?
Yeah, so this is a great time, man. I love it. And hopefully we get some more people next year, you know, and get to like 20 to 25 mark next year.

**Damon Martin** (3:27)
So the retreat, you're doing it yearly, so we'll be another one next year. So it's like a combo, a martial arts retreat, but also like a beach vacation.

**Matt Brown** (3:35)
Yeah, yeah, it's right there in the Asara, Costa Rica. It'll be August 7th to 14th next year, by the way, in Asara, Costa Rica, which has probably the best surfing in Costa Rica. You know, Santa Teresa is up there also.
Asara is really, really good for beginners and intermediates.
You know, if you're like an advanced surfer, it's not going to be, you know, the most exciting place for you. But how many people are advanced surfers, right? And, you know, the waves are perfect. We stay at a place called the Gilded Iguana. Well, I take that back. We stay at the retreat, but I go to a hotel called the Gilded Iguana that has a surf club.
And yeah, it's just beautiful, man. It's an amazing place. And it's nice to just disconnect from American hustle and just feel that pure Vita is what they call a pure life. And it just feels, you know, the chill vibe and just relax and slow everything down and just you get to focus on your training and eating great food. And man, like, what a great time, man.
I don't it blows my mind that there's that everybody isn't going there every year.