Travis Browne believes a dominant win over Arlovski will earn him a title shot
When Travis Browne decided to leave his previous training camp working with coach Greg Jackson and transfer to California where he now learns under Ronda Rousey's head coach Edmond Tarverdyan, he knew there was the possibility that drama was soon to follow.
Fighters change training camps and coaches all the time, but Browne was a mainstay at Jackson's up until his loss to Fabricio Werdum last year and after he took some time off to allow a broken hand to heal, he picked up shop and relocated to California.
Browne was hit with a litany of questions about why he exited the famed camp in New Mexico to begin training with Tarverdyan and his team instead.
Some of those inquiries died down after Browne made short work of Brendan Schaub in his first fight under the guidance of his new coaches, but the subject came up again in rapid fashion when he accepted his next fight at UFC 187 against former Jackson's teammate Andrei Arlovski.
Browne knows the natural reaction is to feel like there's some kind of pride on the line or bad blood between the two fighters because they were once training partners and now stand as bitter enemies inside the Octagon.
According to Browne, however, that couldn't be further from the truth.
"I know that there's the ability to bring drama to the fight and saying 'oh Travis just left Jackson's and now he's fighting a Jackson's fighter' and it's poetic in that sense. But at the end of the day, I'm an athlete, he's an athlete. It doesn't matter what camps we are with," Brown told FOX Sports recently
"At the end of the day he's ranked seventh, I'm ranked third and he wants to move up. I'm the only available guy that's ranked above him right now. From a business standpoint, he took the friendship out of it and looked at it as business and it makes perfect sense."
While it's never fun to beat up a friend, Browne says that he never actually had an option when Arlovski was presented as his next opponent. The way Browne tells it he never has an option.
UFC matchmaker Joe Silva and Browne have a very unique relationship that goes back to his first fight with the promotion. When Silva calls, Browne answers and always says yes.
"I didn't really get offered the fight. My relationship with Joe Silva has always been him saying 'hey I want you to fight this day' and it's like alright sounds good. I don't really look at it as an option," Browne said. "I don't say it just to him or over social media -- Joe knows when he calls me, I'm taking the fight.
"So he called me and said 'May 23, Andrei Arlovski and Andrei already accepted' so it was a no brainer."
The focus for much of the pre-fight hype surrounding this fight is Browne's relationship with Arlovski as a friend and former teammate, but there's more on the line than a story about two old training partners trying to knock each other out.
For Browne, this fight stands as his chance to get back into the title picture in the heavyweight division.
He lost in his last title shot bid when he dropped a lopsided decision to current interim champion Fabricio Werdum last April. With his win over Schaub and an impressive victory over Arlovski, Browne believes he's right back where he should have been a year ago.
"It always depends on performance. Getting a win is nice but you have to have a dominant performance to make a run at that title, I believe. Sometimes guys will come out and just barely squeak by to get a win and then wonder why they don't get a title shot. Who wants to see that? People want to see you go out there and be dominant and finish fights," Browne said. "I think I have the best chance to fight for the title next if I come out and win on May 23."
