The UFC 181 event scheduled for Las Vegas on December 6th has added a heavyweight tilt between Travis Browne and Brendan Schaub to the main card. Both fighters had built up some momentum but had it derailed when they took losses in their last outings. Look for Browne to be favored at the sport books when the line does hit.
Browne defeated a fading Alistair Overeem and earned a quick stoppage win over Josh Barnett to get a head of steam going, but he lost his last outing to Fabricio Werdum. Werdum is now the next title challenger, so Browne has to feel he was close. Despite the loss, he wasn’t wiped out in the fight, losing a decision after 5 rounds.
Schaub hasn’t been nearly as impressive in his last few outings. He hugged and bored his way to a win over Lavar Johnson and he won a ‘grudge’ match over Matt Mitrione before losing in his last outing to Andrei Arlovski in what may be remembered as the worst fight of 2014.
Schaub has grown more confident in his ground game, as evidenced by his fast sub of Mitrione, and he has also learned he can hide his poor striking by playing the ground game. Browne however has good takedown defense and will be looking to make Schaub pay if he attempts a takedown. If the match settles into a stand up fight, Browne has reach and skill advantages that should give him a solid path to victory.
Browne desperately needs to avoid losing two in a row if he is to remain relevant, while Shaub is a likely candidate for a pink slip with another bad outing. Should both men fight with the desperation born from those circumstances, it could be an entertaining fight. Unfortunately for Shaub, throwing caution to the wind favors Browne, so Shaub will look to fight safe and control the pace of the match and where it happens. Schaub, who is 2-3 in his last few outings and has not had a win he can hang his hat on since he KO’d Mirko CroCop is going to have to get Browne to the ground and submit him. Considering Browne just went the distance with Fabricio Werdum, it is unlikely that he can get that job done.
