Remember last year when Charlie Brenneman was on top of the world after he’d won in front of the troops during Fight for the Troops 2 in January and derailed the hype train that was Rick Story (who basically hasn’t recovered) on only a day’s notice?
People began talking like he was fixing to break through, like his wrestling might carry him into the upper echelon of the welterweight division. This assertion came with complete ignorance to the fact that he never beat a top-10 guy in his career and has almost non-existent striking.
Nonetheless, it was fun while it lasted.
Unfortunately, Anthony Johnson happened. On one of the rare occasions that he made weight, Johnson almost headkicked Brenneman to death and sent him tumbling back down the ladder of the sport’s deepest division. He rebounded with a win over Daniel Roberts after, but he’s stuck firmly in purgatory at 170 lbs.
Still, with that signature win over Story and an impressive overall record, people wonder what Brenneman can be. A gatekeeper? An also-ran? A contender? None of the above?
It’s tough to say what Brenneman has ahead of him in MMA. He’s on the wrong side of 30 and doesn’t look to be moving in the right direction when it comes to developing the “mixed” part of his MMA game. He’s a wrestler, and a great one, but it’s wrestling or bust in his fights.
He’s also never beaten a name bigger than Story, who was oversold from the get-go anyway. Johnson smashed him, so did Johny Hendricks, and he couldn’t outpoint UFC washout John Howard in their meeting years ago.
As a result of his inability to win his bigger fights, he’s found himself on FX and Fuel TV-calibre cards, fighting guys like Jason High and Amilcar Alves. Friday night he’ll serve as a stern stylistic test for Erick Silva, a prospect that the UFC is incredibly high on due to his explosiveness and finishing power.
Definitely not something a contender finds himself doing.
And so it goes for Charlie Brenneman. He’s not really in a position to fit a role in the welterweight division, so he just fights guys and sees what happens. He doesn’t seem more than a couple wins away from top-10 status, but he doesn’t seem further than a couple of losses away from fighting on the regional circuit again, either.
So can he contend at 170 lbs.? Maybe. He has a better than average wrestling base, which is crucial to success in MMA. Work on his striking could really get him in the game, as could some wins over legitimate names. Even so, age and inability to rise to the occasion might play against him.
Regardless, there’s no better place to start than with an upset over Erick Silva.
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