Another PPV in the books, and another night of fights to analyze. UFC 213 had it all, thrilling victories, crushing defeats, and all without a real main event. While Amanda Nunes pulled out of her title defense the day of UFC 213, the show must go on, and go on it surely did. Let’s take […]
Another PPV in the books, and another night of fights to analyze.
UFC 213 had it all, thrilling victories, crushing defeats, and all without a real main event. While Amanda Nunes pulled out of her title defense the day of UFC 213, the show must go on, and go on it surely did.
Let’s take a look at the five biggest takeaways from UFC 213.
5. Travis Browne Loses Fourth Fight In A Row
Years ago, “Hapa” seemed to be destined to become heavyweight champion. His massive 6’6 frame and athleticism was simply unparalleled at the time.
Browne had a few setbacks, sure. A draw with Cheick Kongo, a TKO loss to Bigfoot following a mid-fight injury, but then “Hapa” really came into his own.
He dispatched Gonzaga and Josh Barnett with his patented hellbows in a minute flat, and overcame adversity to knockout Alistair Overeem during a spirited run just a few years back.
And then, something changed. Browne decided to join his paramour Ronda Rousey at Glendale Fighting Club, and he hasn’t looked the same since.
He honestly looked like he didn’t want to be there while headlining the preliminary portion of UFC 213 on FS1.
Olyneik, a submission specialist, dropped Hapa in the second round and submitted him, but Browne looked done well before the finish.
Now with just two wins in his past eight fights, the book appears to have closed on Hapa’s UFC career, to the point where Dana White said Browne ought to retire at the post-fight press conference.
What a dramatic downfall for a once-promising contender.
Known best for his media-heavy relationship with Ronda Rousey, UFC heavyweight Travis Browne nevertheless had his back against the proverbial wall when he met veteran mat technicican Oleksiy Oliynyk on the preliminary card of last night’s (Sat., July 8, 2017) UFC 213 from Las Vegas. “Hapa” went into the fight with losses in his three […]
Known best for his media-heavy relationship with Ronda Rousey, UFC heavyweight Travis Browne nevertheless had his back against the proverbial wall when he met veteran mat technicican Oleksiy Oliynyk on the preliminary card of last night’s (Sat., July 8, 2017) UFC 213 from Las Vegas.
“Hapa” went into the fight with losses in his three prior bouts and four of his last five, with three T/KO defeats. The Hawaiian knockout artist was still ranked inside the top 10, a testament to the overall lack of depth at heavyweight rather than his recent results in the octagon. He nearly got back into the win column against Oliynyk last night, yet as he’s shown in recent losses, the onetime contender seems to let his opponent back in the fight.
Browne tagged his Russian counterpart with some big shots early, but couldn’t put him away and ended up getting constricted by the longtime submission specialist when he foolishly took him on in his area of strength. A fourth stoppage in six fights now blurring his record, Browne had made an alarming fall from grace compared to his torrid stretch of three straight “Knockout of the Night” performances in 2013.
That had Browne on the edge of title contention, but a one-sided beating in an April 2014 UFC on FOX main event against former champion Fabricio Werdum sent him crashing back down to Earth. Browne then decided to leave the world-renowned Jackson-Winkeljohn MMA to go to California and train at Edmond Tarverdyan’s Glendale Fight Club. He met and found love with Rousey there, but his fighting career has clearly taken a steep dive.
Dana White spoke up about just that during the UFC 213 post-fight presser, pointing out the unforgiving nature of the UFC and its fighters (quotes via MMA Fighting):
“It’s crazy,” White told reporters at the UFC 213 post-fight conference. “Travis Browne was one of those guys that before the ‘Bigfoot’ fight – and even in the ‘Bigfoot’ fight, I mean he got injured, he blew his hamstring, something weird happened to him – in that fight, the guy looked like he was going to be a world champion. This is one of those sports that you just never know. One minute you’re absolutely unbeatable or unstoppable and the next minute you can’t win a fight.”
Kyle Terada for USA TODAY Sports
Once feared as one of the most powerful fighters in the game, Browne now appears stiff and robotic in his stand-up, and has also come to show the aforementioned tendency to let his opponents back into the fight like he did in a recent loss to Derrick Lewis and again to Oliynyk at UFC 213. Most are quick to point to Tarverdyan’s tendency to ruin MMA fighters’ records as the main culprit for the fall, but ultimately it’s on the fighter to perform, and perhaps Browne has lost some of the focus that’s required to stay at the absolute top of the UFC.
There will always be a short window to be truly elite in MMA, and as White says, you never know just when it will close. Even if “Hapa” did decide to call it quits with a long climb back to relevancy staring him in the face, his life would be just fine getting married and raising a family with the most popular women’s MMA legend of all-time. The losses building, White offered the belief that Browne should hang up his gloves:
Derrick Lewis knocked out Travis Browne back in February. You wouldn’t realize it from his Twitter feed on Saturday night, though, because he was still swinging for the fences!
After Browne was tapped out by Aleksei Oleinik at UFC 213, Lewis took to Tw…
Derrick Lewis knocked out Travis Browne back in February. You wouldn’t realize it from his Twitter feed on Saturday night, though, because he was still swinging for the fences!
After Browne was tapped out by Aleksei Oleinik at UFC 213, Lewis took to Twitter to kick his former foe while he was down:
While one can read into a meme hyper-imposed over a painting of Jesus in a few different ways, his message after was crystal clear:
What Tom Brady is to footballs, Lewis is to shade.
For those needing context, Browne and Lewis faced off at UFC Fight Night 105 earlier this year. While the build-up to the contest was relatively quiet, the aftermath was raucous when Lewis took to the microphone in his post-fight interview and brought up domestic violence allegations against Browne before publicly courting his girlfriend (now fiancee), Ronda Rousey.
This irked Browne in a big way, and he fired back on Instagram in June when Lewis lost to Mark Hunt. With Lewis returning the favor on social media, the ball is once again in Browne’s court. We’ll see if he fires up his phone to respond in the next couple of days.
It’s once again fight day here at LowKickMMA, and the talent on display tonight (Saturday, July 8th, 2017) will come from in the form of UFC 213. Headlining the card are Yoel Romero and Robert Whittaker, but there’s a whole bunch of great fights also taking place on the preliminary section of the card. Travis […]
It’s once again fight day here at LowKickMMA, and the talent on display tonight (Saturday, July 8th, 2017) will come from in the form of UFC 213. Headlining the card are Yoel Romero and Robert Whittaker, but there’s a whole bunch of great fights also taking place on the preliminary section of the card.
Travis Browne vs. Oleksiy Oliynyk in a heavyweight closes the preliminary card on FOX Sports 1.
Brian Camozzi vs. Chad Laprise is next in a welterweight bout.
Gerald Meerschaert vs. Thiago Santos is next in a middleweight bout.
Jordan Mein vs. Belal Muhammad in a welterweight bout opens the FOX Sports 1 preliminary bouts.
Cody Stamann vs. Terrion Ware is next in a featherweight bout finishes off the UFC Fight Pass preliminary card.
Opening the UFC Fight Pass prelims is James Bochnovic vs. Trevin Giles in a light heavyweight bout. In round 1, Giles was able to clinch with him up against the fence and score a takedown. He got in guard and worked him over with strikes. Giles hits the belly to back and lands some huge ground and pound. In round 2, Giles with a nice lead left hook and a crisp jab.Giles with a clubbing body hook and Bochnovic gives up the ride to Giles with a bad shot. Giles into mount and now on the back and lands some big shots to end the fight.
Here are the results:
PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX Sports 1/8 p.m. ET)
Heavyweight: Travis Browne vs. Oleksiy Oliynyk
Welterweight: Brian Camozzi vs. Chad Laprise
Middleweight: Gerald Meerschaert vs. Thiago Santos
Welterweight: Jordan Mein vs. Belal Muhammad
PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass/6:30 p.m. ET)
Featherweight: Cody Stamman vs. Terrion Ware
Light Heavyweight: Trevin Giles def. James Bochnovic via KO (Punches), Round 2 – 2:54
UFC star Ronda Rousey had her first interview since UFC 207, and she used it to discuss a burglary that occurred earlier in 2017.
Appearing on Live with Kelly and Ryan Wednesday, Rousey detailed an incident where she and her boyfriend (now fiance…
UFC star Ronda Rousey had her first interview since UFC 207, and she used it to discuss a burglary that occurred earlier in 2017.
Appearing on Live with Kelly and Ryan Wednesday, Rousey detailed an incident where she and her boyfriend (now fiance) Travis Browne discovered their house had been burgled shortly before they were set to leave for New Zealand.
“Someone had been squatting in my house for like three days, sleeping in my bed,” she explained, via Damon Martin of MMA Weekly. “[They] stole my Olympic rings, stole my guns, stole all my precious jewelry, every headphone in the house, credit cards.”
The couple still traveled to New Zealand, where Browne asked Rousey to marry him.
Surveillance tapes were used to quickly identify the suspects.
According toTMZ, 21-year-old Zhamila Bolat and 20-year-old Alim Young were arrested for the burglary but have yet to be charged.
Rousey did not answer any questions in the interview about her UFC career, which is seemingly at a standstill. She was one of the most dominant athletes in the world while building a 12-0 record, but she has since suffered back-to-back knockout losses to Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes.
The loss to Nunes was at UFC 207 last December, and no future matches have been scheduled for the MMA superstar.
In the meantime, the 30-year-old is participating inBattle of the Network Starsas a team captain opposite former NFL player DeMarcus Ware.
Ronda Rousey appeared on today’s episode of Live with Kelly and Ryan, and recalled a particularly shocking tale. According to the former UFC women’s bantamweight champion, the home shared by Rousey and fiance Travis Browne was recently ransacked, with the couple being robbed by some local hooligans. The crime was caught on camera, however, and […]
Ronda Rousey appeared on today’s episode of Live with Kelly and Ryan, and recalled a particularly shocking tale. According to the former UFC women’s bantamweight champion, the home shared by Rousey and fiance Travis Browne was recently ransacked, with the couple being robbed by some local hooligans. The crime was caught on camera, however, and […]
Derrick Lewis knocked out