When Travis “Hapa” Browne enters the Octagon against former UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez, he is fully aware that he is competing against one of the best fighters of all-time.
During a recent media luncheon to promote the landmark UFC 200 event on July 9th, Browne spoke about Velasquez and the respect he has for the former champion.
“Cain ran the division for years,” Browne said at a recent media lunch. “He’s arguably still the best heavyweight. There’s situations that came up in his last fight, altitude and stuff like that. He had to learn the hard way. But I feel like he’s right there. He’s still the toughest guy. So it means everything to me. To me, this is almost my title shot.”
While a win over Velasquez would obviously be huge for Browne’s career, “Hapa” admitted that it still might not be enough to warrant a title shot.
“I don’t think just a win over Cain will cement me the title shot,” Browne said. “I have to go out there and perform and make it a show. Perform and come out on top. There’s so many moving parts to it.”
Headlined by Daniel Cormier vs. Jon Jones for the UFC Light Heavyweight Title, UFC 200 takes place on Saturday, July 9, 2016 at the brand new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
H/T to MMAFighting.com for transcribing the above quotes.