ORLANDO – Saturday night’s UFC on FOX 11 main event between Fabricio Werdum and Travis Browne surprised a few people in how it played out. The underdog Werdum not only dominated the fight in all phases at the Amway Center in Orlando, but the knockout artist Browne seemed to fade very uncharacteristically early in the bout.
Werdum ultimately won a unanimous decision (50-45, 49-46, 50-45) in what became a one-sided showcase for a tentative fall clash with heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez in Mexico. But it turns out there were some explanations. At the post-fight press conference, Dana White was asked what he thought of Werdum and Browne’s performance.
“[Werdum] picked him apart, he fought a safe fight to guarantee he was going to get the [title shot],” White said. “I think he could have finished Travis, but Travis is a tough guy.
“My question was, how did Travis gas out two-and-a-half minutes into the first round? And they think he has a broken rib, they think he broke his rib in the first round. That would explain it. He definitely has a broken hand.”
Browne did not attend the press conference, as he was transported to a local hospital to be examined.
But by the time he came out to meet Werdum in the second round it as clear he wasn’t the same fighter, as Browne was breathing heavy and laboring. Though both fighters were throwing heavy shots throughout, Werdum was not able to put the exhausted Browne away in the later rounds when the Jackson-Winkeljohn fighter was clearly spent.
That part might have peeved White, but overall he thinks Werdum still looked good in routing Browne.
“He is very dangerous, and again, I don’t think we saw all of Werdum’s tools tonight,” he said. “I think he had [Browne] hurt in the first round, and now we know he might have a broken rib which totally explains why [Travis] would gas out halfway through the first round. It’s a testament to how tough that guy is. To try and fight five rounds with a broken rib, that totally makes sense.
“I think Werdum played it safe tonight to guarantee that title shot, who knows what happens when he fights Cain. Because Cain is going to come right after him 100 percent, the Travis would have tonight. And, I’ll tell you this too, any questions about Werdum’s chin probably go away after that big shot he took in that first round. He got hit with a big right hand. I thought he was done, I thought the fight was about to be over, but he came back.”