Travis Browne is learning how to fight on the biggest stage in the world
Travis Browne was close to a UFC title shot a few fights ago and he really had no idea what he was doing
At first glance, Travis Browne had an incredibly impressive record when he made his UFC debut back in 2010.
He was 9-0 as a professional with eight of those victories coming by way of knockout or submission, while taking out former "Ultimate Fighter" competitor Abe Wagner as well as Octagon veteran Aaron Brink.
It's only when dissecting the timeline for those fights does Browne's brief history with mixed martial arts start to come into focus. Browne debuted in February 2009 and almost exactly one year later was finishing off his ninth opponent before the UFC came calling.
"I had trained maybe three or four months before making my pro debut. So I had maybe a year and a half training before I stepped into the UFC," Browne said when speaking to FOX Sports ahead of his next fight at UFC 203 on Saturday in Cleveland.
It's hard to imagine Browne as a novice, considering his meteoric rise he made up the ranks after amassing a 6-1 record in the UFC while racking up wins over fighters like Josh Barnett and Alistair Overeem.
To put that into context, Barnett and Overeem had a combined 90 professional fights and more than 30 years of combined experience when they stepped into the cage with Browne. At the time he earned first-round knockouts over both, Browne had been an active fighter for just over four years with half of his experience at that point taking place in the UFC.
Coming from Hawaii, Browne says he had fighting in his blood, even as a kid, because that's just how problems are settled there. When people had a disagreement that could not be settled with words, fists were thrown until the problem was resolved.
"I remember growing up and just getting into scraps. That's how we settled things on the rock. That's just how it went," Browne said. "So that was part of our culture being from Hawaii."
While Browne was more than happy to start a fight just as quickly as he could finish it, his real passion growing up didn't involve fisticuffs. At 6-foot-7, Browne actually preferred basketball and team sports rather than turning his attention to boxing, kickboxing or Brazilian jiu-jitsu — which were all popular activities in Hawaii thanks to the growth of the UFC.
Years later, Browne discovered that his athletic prowess could be adapted to a sport like MMA and before long he realized that the same fire that fueled him through scraps as a kid could earn him a living as a professional fighter.
So 16 months after making his debut, Browne was in the UFC facing some of the best athletes in the world and by his own admission, he really had no clue how to actually fight.
After his fast start that put Browne one fight away from a title shot, he's gone 2-3 over his last five bouts. Browne also heard plenty of detractors say that he was finally exposed as a one-dimensional fighter who was nothing more than a never was and chances are he never would be either.
What those same naysayers neglected to realize was Browne's naivety was due in large part to his lack of knowledge about true mixed martial arts. He might look like a giant with bricks for fists, but when it came to his MMA education he was really a kid competing against men.
"It would be like a sophomore going right into the pros out of high school and trying to win a championship and then talking (expletive) about them when they lose a few games," Browne said. "This is a kid that's trying to play amongst the best and he's still learning. I get it.
"In my career, I never ask for stuff. I earn it. That's how my UFC career has been. I've never been handed anything. I had to go through the fire to get where I'm at. I've come out on top in key fights and I've lost some key fights. This is my learning curve. This is where I have to make adjustments."
These days, Browne has called upon coaches like Edmond Tarverdyan to help him finally learn the art of fighting but it's not an easy road. There have been plenty of bumps like his recent losses to Cain Velasquez and Andrei Arlovski, but there's never been a time when Browne contemplated walking away.
Browne isn't embarrassed to admit that he's had to humble himself to figure out how to win fights when his ruthless aggression didn't get the job done, but the pieces of the puzzle are coming together.
"That's one of the reasons I wanted to be coached so much one-one-one in recent years because my tenacity and athletic ability will only take me so far and to be a champion and keep pushing in this sport, I had to learn skills. Real skills," Browne said. "Before a lot of it was just me going out there and going for broke.
"This is my learning curve. This isn't like I'm on my descent. This is my learning curve, but unfortunately it's in front of millions of people."
Browne appreciates the people that have stood by him, but he's also aware there are plenty of fans who are waiting to see him fail. Of course, there's also a third section of observers who believe Browne's shortcomings are caused by his own ineptitude or perhaps his choice of trainers. As much as Browne would like to bite his tongue, he can't help but send a special message to them.
"You get people that support me and that's great. Then you get all the idiots and naysayers that social media is a great platform for all the (expletives) to feel brave for making a comment or you have backseat drivers saying 'oh you need to do this' and it's like go back and read that TPS report in your (expletive) cubicle. Leave the fighting to me, you focus on your TPS reports," Browne said.
Admittedly, it took Browne some time to finally ignore the loud chorus of fans who either didn't want him to succeed or felt like he never would.
Now as he prepares for a rematch with Fabricio Werdum — the same fighter who ended his three-fight knockout streak and kept him from a title shot — Browne is at peace with the people who love him and he's finally stopped caring about the people who don’t.
"You have to understand that everyone has an opinion and they always think that they know better," Browne said. "They want to feel like they have a say, they want to feel important for a split second and that's what makes them feel good. Not once in my life have I ever gone on somebody else's post and said something negative. I've got too much going on. I'm raising a family and I just don't have time to worry about that (expletive). It's like grow the (expletive) up.
"Once you're put in the spotlight like I am, you have to realize that. Otherwise, you'll lose sleep over what people think about you. You'll lose sleep about a comment someone said about you and then you're thinking 'why don't they understand?' or whatever. I just don't give a (expletive). That's the reality, that's a fact."
The 34-year old wasn't mired in the muck over that loss but instead got right back into the gym to fix what went wrong so it would never happen again. When the chance to avenge a loss was offered, Browne didn't hesitate for a second because he knew he was going to be a better fighter on Sept. 10 than he was in July and certainly a far better competitor than the one who faced Werdum in 2014.
"I feel like I've progressed so far that I forget who that guy was at time," Browne said. "At that point, I fought Gabriel Gonzaga, Alistair Overeem and Josh Barnett and won those fights in 2013 and I lost that fight in 2014 and I've been bouncing back and forth with wins and losses ever since. It's one of those things where maybe I've taken a step back in terms of progression with wins and losses, but personally I feel like I've progressed so much further, one in my personal life and two in my career.
"The skills that I've learned are completely different. Now we're at that point where I have to mix the old with the new. Coming September 10, that's what you guys are going to see."
Browne has never been afraid of hard work and that's why he's never been discouraged by a loss. As famed coach Mike Ditka once said "you're never a loser until you quit trying" — and Browne will be damned if he's going to quit trying now.
"We're in the toughest sport where somebody's literally trying to knock you the (expletive) out. You have to go in there and perform. I'm going to keep going. I'm not even close to being done," Browne said.
"I'm learning. I'm progressing. I'm getting better. Sometimes to get better you have to take a step or two backwards and learn some stuff."
