Travis Browne will unleash anger from his last loss on Brendan Schaub
Travis Browne hasn't faced defeat very often during his MMA career, but on both occasion when he's suffered losses it precipitated a major change in his way of thinking and approach to the next fight.
Following his 2012 loss to Antonio 'Bigfoot' Silva, Browne reflected on what went wrong and came back with a new fire in his belly to go out and eliminate the competition. As a result he picked up three wins, three first round finishes and picked up a 'Knockout of the Night' bonus each time.
Most recently, Browne suffered a unanimous decision loss to Fabricio Werdum, which cost him a shot at the UFC heavyweight title. A hand injury kept Browne sidelined immediately after the fight, but when he was healed he decided to pick up shop and move training camps from Team Jackson's in New Mexico to the Glendale Fight Club where he began working with coach Edmond Tarverdyan.
Browne's new coach gained quite a bit of notoriety in the MMA world when he served as one of Ronda Rousey's coaches on The Ultimate Fighter 18. He serves as Rousey's main trainer while also working with Manny Gamburyan, Jessamyn Duke and most recently Jake Ellenberger.
Still, the move was met with a fair amount of criticism considering the murderer's row of fighters Browne was training with at Jackson's, not to mention the championship coaching he was receiving from Greg Jackson, Mike Winkeljohn and a host of other trainers at the gym. Browne understands that everyone is going to have an opinion about where he trains or the coaches he chooses to work with, but it all comes down to his decision.
He chose Tarverdyan and a new team.
"That's the world we live in. I'm in the spotlight and the decisions I make are going to be praised and criticized all from the same people. They're just uninformed and they have their opinions," Browne told FOX Sports. "The people that I care about their opinion and their views, we're all on the same page."
Even Browne's opponent at UFC 181, Brendan Schaub, felt the need to chime in on the subject. He stated that Browne working with Tarverdyan was a 'great thing' for him, especially considering the knowledge he has about the camp and being friends with prize pupil Ronda Rousey in the past.
Browne didn't want to get too reactionary when hearing bout Schaub's comments, but couldn't simply brush past them either. He pays attention to what other people have to say about his choices in coaches and training camp.
It's his job to back up those choices in the Octagon on December 6.
"At the end of the day we just kind of chuckle about it and laugh it off. He's making an uninformed opinion or statement based on his own opinion," Browne said about Schaub. "It really isn't anything to get fired up about. At the same time I don't like people talking about me or my decisions. They don't know where I'm at or what I'm doing.
"He's just an outsider with an outside perspective opinion about what I'm doing."
Whether Browne was training with Tarverdyan, Jackson or just hitting a heavy bag in his basement at home, he's still going to be a tall order for Schaub to tackle. Browne has faced and beaten many fighters from the top of the rankings while Schaub is still waiting on a signature win to get that level of recognition.
Schaub will not only be facing the No. 3 heavyweight in the world on Saturday night, but a fiercely motivated fighter ready to wash the bad taste of defeat out of his mouth. Thanks to some advice Brown received from a former UFC heavyweight, he's learned how to live with those losses but only in the way that allows them to fester up and boil over.
"A buddy of mine Pat Barry, who came out and helped me after the 'Bigfoot' Silva fight before the (Alistair) Overeem fight told me 'live in that moment, live with it, live with that anger. Don't get used to it, but just let it piss you off' and that's what I did," Browne said. "So I held onto it for a little bit longer and I absolutely hate that feeling. I never want to feel it again.
"You're going to have to put me to sleep to beat me. It's going to take something huge in order for him to beat me."
