UFC fighter Matt Brown shared a story from his time in jail where he nearly got killed after trying to assert dominance by refusing to give food to a fellow inmate who turned out to be a “prison queen” – a term for a long-term inmate who is married to men in prison and does not want to leave.
Before Matt Brown became a UFC legend, he was a troubled youth. His past was marred by drug addiction and multiple jail stints.
Brown eventually turned his life around, becoming a professional fighter. He set a record for the most knockouts in UFC welterweight history.
During a social media Q&A, Brown shared a chilling jailhouse story. He tweeted, “It was jail, not prison. I never got in any fights but I teetered on the edge of getting murdered by a prison queen. I’ll have to tell that story some time lol.”
On an episode of “The Fighter vs. The Writer,” Brown shared the full story. He wanted to establish himself as the alpha male in jail, a plan that nearly ended in disaster.
Brown recalled his time in the Green County jail. “I got sentenced to six months in the Green County jail and it was a brand new jail,” he said. “I had never been in a jail like this before. There’s 60 prisoners or whatever you want to call them to a pod. That’s a lot of motherf*ckers in a single pod.”
He wanted to prove himself right away. His plan? Deny food to the biggest, meanest-looking inmate.
Brown explained, “I’m handing out trays one day and I picked this one guy, who looked like kind of a mean dude, and he was a little bit bigger than the rest of the guys. So I’m like, ‘I’m going to let him know, he ain’t getting food today.’”
But the plan backfired. The inmate simply walked away, leaving Brown puzzled.
Later, Brown was moved to the same pod as the inmate he had denied food. He expected a confrontation, but it never came. Instead, another inmate warned Brown that he had messed with a “prison queen,” a man who was married to men in prison and didn’t want to leave.
The inmate warned Brown, “He’s absolutely going to stab you in your sleep. Because he does not care one bit about being in prison. Like, he’s lived his whole life in prison.”
Brown realized his mistake. He stayed awake for days, fearing for his life. Eventually, he requested a move to a different pod.
During this time, Brown could only sleep in the bathroom. He was constantly on edge, waiting for retribution.
Brown reflected, “I knew something was up right there [when he just walked away in the cafeteria]. I was like, ‘Either that was really easy and this dude’s a complete bitch, or I’m probably getting murdered.’”
Brown never saw the inmate again. But a chance encounter after his release confirmed the danger he had been in.
He said, “I didn’t talk to him again ever. He never did anything so maybe it was a close call, maybe not. But funny enough, his cousin or his brother was the most popular tattoo artist in town. I ended up going with a friend of mine, this guy was released for about a month or so. Basically, when he was released, everybody would go get tattoos from him.”
During a tattoo session, Brown learned that the inmate he had denied food was indeed a “prison queen.” The tattoo artist confirmed, “He’s killed more than one man before, yeah.”
You can listen to new episodes of The Fighter vs. The Writer every Tuesday on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and iHeartRadio.