A third UFC title will be on the line Dec. 6 at UFC 181, and Travis “Hapa” Browne will have to topple Brendan “Big Brown” Schaub to earn his shot at it.
To take a step back, the main card heavyweight tilt between Browne and Schaub is not billed as a No. 1 contender’s bout, nor should it be. Browne is ranked No. 3 in the division, while Schaub is not ranked at all, meaning the official rankings panel believes in at least 16 heavyweights more than Big Brown.
That’s no vote of confidence, but don’t let it distract you from the importance of this bout.
Schaub needs a win to gain respect from the MMA community. As evidenced by his unranked status, fans and critics don’t think too highly of the 31-year-old The Ultimate Fighter runner-up.
Maybe it’s because he’s coming off a disastrous split-decision loss to Andrei Arlovski at UFC 174. Maybe it’s because his best win in the UFC is over a shriveled up Mirko Cro Cop? Gabriel Gonzaga? Matt Mitrione? Pick one and roll with it; none of these combatants exude greatness.
But for Browne, this fight means something more. The 6’7″ Hawaiian already has the respect of fans and critics alike. Like Schaub, he’s coming off a loss, yet he remains at No. 3 in the rankings.
That distinction is well founded. Before his decision loss to current interim heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum at UFC on Fox 11, Browne knocked out three straight opponents in devastating fashion. Gonzaga (the same Gonzaga Schaub took to the judges’ scorecards), Alistair Overeem and Josh Barnett all stepped into the Octagon with Browne and tasted unconsciousness before stumbling back to the locker room.
What do those three names have in common?
They’re all ranked higher than Schaub in the UFC’s official rankings. Browne has been here before, and a win will show that he’s ready to break out into the next level of title contention.
Now, I’m not trying to make the rankings out to be some sort of golden rule for analyzing fighters. They’re not—not even close; however, they do serve as some sort of metric for rating a fighter’s pull in the division.
For the UFC, it’s easier to market “No. 3-ranked Travis Browne” as a legitimate contender to the title. That number looks nice next to his name, and even the most casual fan understands that, “Hey, No. 3 is pretty dang good.”
And Browne is pretty dang good, indeed.
He’s lost twice in 10 tries inside the UFC Octagon, getting finished once by Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva after suffering an injury that left him essentially one-legged early in the fight and dropping the aforementioned decision to Werdum.
You may know Werdum from his recent knockout of Mark Hunt at UFC 180, where he captured the interim heavyweight title. In that fight, he survived some serious punishment from the stocky Kiwi in Round 1 before crushing his foe with a flying knee in Round 2. Hunt is famous for his resolve and his incredible chin, but Werdum flattened him.
Oh, and Werdum is perhaps even better on the ground. He’s a world-class Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and not the kind of “world-class” Joe Rogan is quick to point out during broadcasts. He’s actually world-class, and he has the medals (and submission victories) to prove it.
Surviving five rounds with Werdum while fighting with a broken hand, ribs and nose is not too terrible in that context.
That’s precisely why gold is on the line in this fight. It’s not there for Schaub, but it is there for Browne. Should he defeat Big Brown at UFC 181, Hapa will reassert himself as a legitimate contender for the UFC’s heavyweight strap. He’ll show that he can bounce back from a devastating loss, and he’ll show that his No. 3 ranking is justified.
The UFC is quickly running out of legitimate contenders in the big-boy division, and Browne is one of the few top-tier heavyweights left to try his luck in a five-round title fight.
A win over Schaub and that opportunity might just come sooner than expected.
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