Johny Hendricks, Anthony Pettis, and the rest of the 22 fighters scheduled to compete on tomorrow’s UFC 181: Hendricks vs. Lawler II card are set to hit the scales any minute now, so join us after the jump for live updates, results, and a depressing look into the mind of the average UFC fan via #UFCYoutubeComments.
Johny Hendricks, Anthony Pettis, and the rest of the 22 fighters scheduled to compete on tomorrow’s UFC 181: Hendricks vs. Lawler II card are set to hit the scales any minute now, so join us after the jump for live updates, results, and a depressing look into the mind of the average UFC fan via #UFCYoutubeComments.
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
-Johny Hendricks (170) vs. Robbie Lawler (170)
-Anthony Pettis (154.5) vs. Gilbert Melendez (155)
-Travis Browne (243) vs. Brendan Schaub (244)
-Todd Duffee (256) vs. Anthony Hamilton (236.5)
-Tony Ferguson (156) vs. Abel Trujillo (156)
PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX Sports 1, 8 p.m. ET)
-Urijah Faber (135) vs. Francisco Rivera (135.5)
-Eddie Gordon (185.5) vs. Josh Samman (185.5)
-Corey Anderson (204.5) vs. Justin Jones (204.5)
-Ashlee Evans-Smith (135.5) vs. Raquel Pennington (136)
PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 7 p.m. ET)
-Matt Hobar (136) vs. Sergio Pettis (135)
-Clay Collard (146) vs. Alex White (145.5)
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 a…
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.
(Photo via Fitness Gurls. Full gallery is after the jump.)
Jenna Renee is a living fitness motivation gallery. The Florida-bred model and personal trainer has lent her physique to numerous magazines and is a rising star on Instagram with over 60,000 followers. Last night, Jenna announced her engagement to UFC heavyweight Travis Browne — congrats, guys! — and we’d like to celebrate this joyous occasion by posting a bunch of photos of her. Check out 24 of our favorite Jenna Renee photos in the gallery below, and visit her Twitter page and personal blog for more.
Jenna Renee is a living fitness motivation gallery. The Florida-bred model and personal trainer has lent her physique to numerous magazines and is a rising star on Instagram with over 60,000 followers. Last night, Jenna announced her engagement to UFC heavyweight Travis Browne — congrats, guys! — and we’d like to celebrate this joyous occasion by posting a bunch of photos of her. Check out 24 of our favorite Jenna Renee photos in the gallery above, and visit her Twitter page and personal blog for more.
As if he didn’t already have his hands full with UFC heavyweight contender Travis Browne, Brendan Schaub fanned the already roaring flame of “Hapa” during a September episode of The Joe Rogan Experience (NSFW language; h/t Jesse Holland of MM…
As if he didn’t already have his hands full with UFC heavyweight contender Travis Browne, Brendan Schaub fanned the already roaring flame of “Hapa” during a September episode of The Joe Rogan Experience (NSFW language; h/t Jesse Holland of MMA Mania).
Two months before his fight with the third-ranked Browne at UFC 181, the unranked Schaub talked about Hapa‘s decision to leave Jackson-Winkeljohn MMA to train at the Glendale Fighting Club with Ronda Rousey‘s coach, Edmond Tarverdyan.
“Obviously, I know Ronda very well, and I know that camp pretty well,” Schaub said. “I’m not going to go into detail, but I think it’s a great thing for me that he’s training there. I’ll put it like that. I think it’s a good thing for me.”
Schaub’s comments regarding Hapa‘s change in camps apparently irked the colossal Hawaiian, who offered the following advice to “Big Brown” during Friday’s UFC Fight Night 54 Q&A (NSFW language; h/t Adam Guillen Jr. of MMA Mania).
“Honestly, I don’t want to knock him out,” Browne said. “I want him to feel what it’s like to go three rounds with me. And I’ll tell you right now, this guy, a lot of people don’t rub me the wrong way, but opinions are like a——s, you need to keep them to yourself. That’s exactly what he needs to do.”
Browne’s impressive three-fight winning streak ended in his last bout when he suffered a lopsided loss to Fabricio Werdum (unanimous decision) in a title eliminator fight at UFC on Fox 11 in April.
Prior to his setback to Werdum, Browne (16-2) scored three straight KO wins and three straight “Knockout of the Night” bonuses in less than a nine-month span in 2013.
Schaub (10-4), on the other hand, has dropped three of his last five fights, including a controversial split-decision loss to Andrei Arlovski at UFC 174 in June.
Big Brown holds a 6-4 UFC record with just two of this victories coming via decision.
The UFC’s brass evidently still considers unranked heavyweight Brendan Schaub a viable contender, even after his lackluster performance in his most recent outing at UFC 174 in June.
As reported by Fox Sports, the UFC announced Tuesday that Schaub will …
The UFC’s brass evidently still considers unranked heavyweight Brendan Schaub a viable contender, even after his lackluster performance in his most recent outing at UFC 174 in June.
As reported by Fox Sports, the UFC announced Tuesday that Schaub will square off with third-ranked heavyweight and Jackson’s MMA stalwart Travis Browne at UFC 181 in December.
Schaub acknowledged the matchup with Browne via Twitter on Tuesday.
It’s official we got a fight and it’s a big one! UFC 181 in Las Vegas vs Travis Browne http://t.co/S3AmMqIT7i
A fight with Browne arguably represents the most promising opportunity in the five-year UFC career of Schaub, a brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and a former tight end at the University of Colorado.
Schaub saw his two-fight winning streak come to a halt when he dropped a controversial split decision to Andrei Arlovski at UFC 174.
Schaub scored the only takedown of the bout and outstruck the former UFC heavyweight champ, 65-40, including 30-12 in the significant strikes department.
Prior to his loss at UFC 174, Schaub submitted slugger Matt Mitrione with a D’arce choke at UFC 165 in February 2013. Seven months before that win, The Hybrid earned a unanimous decision over another heavy-handed boxer, Lavar Johnson, at UFC 157.
Schaub (10-4) holds a 6-4 UFC record with three KOs.
Browne (16-2-1) was riding an impressive three-fight winning streak before getting routed by top-ranked heavyweight Fabricio Werdum in a unanimous-decision loss at UFC on Fox 11 in April.
In consecutive fights in 2013, Hapa notched KO wins over a trio of top-15 heavyweights in Gabriel Gonzaga (No. 12), Alistair Overeem (No. 10) and Josh Barnett (No 6).
Browne has compiled a 7-2-1 record since joining the UFC in 2010.
Browne most recently got his ass handed to him by Fabricio Werdum, who outstruck “Hapa” to a clear-cut unanimous decision victory at UFC on FOX 11 back in April. The loss snapped a streak of three consecutive first-round knockout wins for Browne, which he earned against Gabriel Gonzaga, Alistair Overeem, and Josh Barnett.
Browne most recently got his ass handed to him by Fabricio Werdum, who outstruck “Hapa” to a clear-cut unanimous decision victory at UFC on FOX 11 back in April. The loss snapped a streak of three consecutive first-round knockout wins for Browne, which he earned against Gabriel Gonzaga, Alistair Overeem, and Josh Barnett.
(Huh. Now that I think about it, it’s obvious that the UFC put two title fights on this card because either Belfort or Pettis will pull out of the event due to injury. Seriously, I’m calling it now.)
(And are you f*cking kidding me with that Bruce Buffer photo? The man has abs like an action figureand he can do the splits? He is truly the world’s most complete man.)
A third UFC title will be on the line Dec. 6 at 
