Matt Brown: I put on better performances than any of the UFC 171 welterweights

Matt Brown has resurfaced after an untimely injury kept him out of UFC on FOX 9 last December. With the welterweight division wide open, "The Immortal" is ready to take the reigns and prove he belongs in a future championship fight.

The Ohio resident will be headlining the promotion's return trip to the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati on May 10, 2014, for UFC Fight Night 40 on FOX Sports 1.

He draws Erick Silva, who's trying to shake off an inconsistent run of 3-3 in his last six fights. As for Brown, he's on a six-fight winning streak, stopping the likes of Mike Pyle, Jordan Mein and Mike Swick.

Brown's winning streak has gone somewhat unnoticed in the past few months, and that's because he had to pull out of his pivotal fight against Carlos Condit, which would have more or less determined the next welterweight title challenger.

With four straight stoppage victories, the 33-year-old slugger is inches away from securing his first UFC welterweight title fight, but he's got just a bit more work to do in a division where the next challenger is slightly unclear.

"The Immortal" stopped by the MMA Hour to talk about what kept him out of his fight against "The Natural Born Killer" and how it might have been a blessing in disguise.

"It was about a week and a half before the fight, I herniated two discs in my lower back, while I was wrestling. I think it was probably more overtraining. I was actually injured through most of the camp, really wasn't having a good camp at all and kind of lasted about two weeks. I was finally getting healthy, and I think I was just pushing too hard, trying to make up for lost time."

It wasn't easy for the UFC vet, who has been with the promotion for six years now, and experienced the same sentiment as fans across the world who felt his canceled co-main event fight was a heartbreaker.

"All that, what all those guys were feeling, I was feeling 10 times worse. It was probably one of the saddest things that has ever happened to me."

Brown fights the rising Silva, who is trying to enter the welterweight title picture and make an impact of his own.

With the longest current winning streak in the welterweight division, Brown is anticipating a title shot when the time comes and he doesn't know what else he needs to do inside the cage.

"I don't know what I gotta do. Everybody says, 'well you got to fight a top 10 fighter.' I just fight whomever they put in front of me. I fought six guys in a row that I just beat, only one of them went to a decision. It's not my choice not to fight a top 10 guy. I don't know what else I have to do. I just keep on fighting guys."

After UFC 171, Brown took to Twitter to say he was the true number one contender, but agreed he wasn't the best self-promoter. He also says he didn't do it so much for recognition, but to speak the truth about how he feels in the current 170-pound division.

And guys like Hector Lombard, Tyron Woodley, and Johny Hendricks might not like hearing it.

"That's how I feel. Everything I put on Twitter, Facebook, all that shit, that's all my personal feelings. I think I could beat any of those guys. I think I put on better performances than anybody on that card. Nobody talks about me."

They'll be talking if he finishes the Brazilian in his home state. Get more background on his Silva fight here.