Author: Adam Wells

UFC 130 Results See Travis Browne Knockout Stefan Struve, Now He Deserves Top Competition

Travis Browne provided the highlight of the night at UFC 130 with his superman punch knockout of the lanky heavyweight Stefan Struve the first round of their heavyweight battle. The punch came out of nowhere as Struve was trying to throw a kick, but Browne timed his jump perfectly and Struve dropped like he got shot. Now, Browne wants to make a name for himself against the best that UFC has to offer.

He has yet to lose in his MMA career, boasting a record of 11-0-1 with nine of those victories coming via knockout. Seven of those knockouts have come in the first round, so he doesn’t like to mess around when the bell rings.

This was his first major test against a good UFC heavyweight fighter – Cheick Kongo is decent, but a mere shell of his former self – and he did not disappoint. He is on his way up the ladder following this performance and he knows it.

From Sherdog.com:

“I think people are going to start realizing who I am and the danger that I pose to the heavyweight division. And I think that…I am on my way up.”

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Following this impressive performance, against someone that a lot of people were talking about as one of the more dangerous up and coming young stars in the division, you would be hard pressed to argue with him.

I would like to see him take on Frank Mir in his next fight to give him a big name fighter to go up against and to see how he handles the spotlight.

Browne is far from a finished product, but he is building up an impressive collection of victories in his young career. A step up in competition is the next phase of his career.

UFC 130 Results See Quinton Jackson Handily Defeat Matt Hamill, Does He Deserve The Shot Against Jon Jones?

Quinton Jackson has heard the rumors just like everyone else. He knew that a win over Matt Hamill would in all likelihood lead to a light heavyweight championship fight against Jon Jones at some point this year. And to his credit, he put on one of his better performances in recent memory.

Hamill needed this fight to establish himself as a light heavyweight fighter in UFC. Jackson knew that this fight was his ticket to a big money match against arguably the biggest star in UFC right now. And Jackson fought like he had a lot more to lose, because he did.

UFC president Dana White was non-committal about a title shot for Rampage, but he did make a case for him in an interview with Ariel Helwani (via MMAFighting.com):

“Who out there doesn’t think Rampage is one of the best 205-pound fighters?”

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There are few fighters that boast a resume as accomplished as Quinton Jackson, but lately he has left a lot to be desired in the octagon. His fight against Rashad Evans was for the most part dull, and he lost a three round decision. His fight against Lyoto Machida was a little better, but Machida looked like the better fighter after three rounds despite losing the decision.

But Jackson made a clear statement in this fight. He proved that he is still very much invested in his fighting career. He proved that he is still one of the better light heavyweight fighters in the world when he wants to be. He proved that he has the defense to stop a world class wrestler over the course of a three round fight.

Jackson needed this win to prove to himself that he still had what it takes to compete at a high level against a hungry and eager young star. He got exactly what he needed by defeating Hamill, and now he has a chance to shock the world by defeating Jones for the light heavyweight title.

UFC 130 is in the books and it turned out to be a fairly exciting event that is going to launch the careers of two guys in particular: Brian Stann and Travis Browne.

Stann, who had his big coming-out party at UFC 125, put his name in the middleweight championship discussion with another highlight reel knockout, this time against Jorge Santiago. The guy has a great story, being a former U.S. Marine, and he is exciting to watch when he fights. What more does UFC need to put him in a title fight?

Browne had the knockout of the night when he cleaned Stefan Struve’s clock with a Superman punch in the first round of their fight. He launched himself at the lanky heavyweight and connected right on the butt of the jaw and Struve went down in a heap.

Quinton Jackson kept his winning ways going by defeating Matt Hamill in impressive fashion. He showed good defense and used effective striking to get the vote from the judges after three rounds of battle.

Rick Story made a move up the welterweight ladder with a big victory over Thiago Alves, and Frank Mir took out Roy Nelson in a heavyweight battle.

We will have the latest news, notes, information, analysis and reaction from UFC 130 and a look at UFC 131, which is just two weeks away.

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