The UFC train rolls on with 2 shows this week, closing with the UFC on FOX 11 event this Saturday, April 19th with a card headlined by the heavyweight clash between Fabricio Werdum and Travis Browne. Right now, Browne sits as a favorite at the sportbooks at (-200) with thwe return on Werdum at (+170), which makes an unusual third UFC event in a row with a competitive main event at the sportbooks!
It is not really a surprise that Browne is the favorite. Browne has really found himself since taking a loss to Antonio Silva back in October of 2012, going 3-0 and ending all three fights in the first round with strikes. His last outing against veteran Josh Barnett was expected to be his biggest test, but instead he got the fight stopped in about a minute, coming through unscathed and leaving Barnett’s title hopes in his wake. The feeling is there that Browne’s yime is now.
His opponent Werdum, is an x-factor. In what is now ancient MMA history, Werdum took out legend Fedor Emilianenko back in June of 2010, but has gone just 3-1 since. Certainly beating Fedor was something that Werdum expected to parlay into big fights and big money, but it has not exactly worked out that way. Werdum is dangerous in that he has always been a strong defensive fighter who wants to get you to the ground and work his jiu jitsu. Browne will make the takedowns hard and painful for Werdum, but he is a savvy veteran who should be able to finish ‘Hapa’ Browne if the fight goes to the ground.
In his last outing, Werdum won by defeating Antonio Noguiera with a gruesome arm lock. But that was a year ago too. Fedor 4 years ago, when he was 32, Noguiera, who has proven to be very faded, a year ago, and entering this match Werdum is now 36. Unfortunately for Werdum, what could be exposed here is that he transitioned from being in his prime 4 years ago to being a 36 year old who has lost some physical abilities while he was sitting on the bench waiting. Werdum needs to fast track his career that has been woefully mismanaged, but Browne will be looking to use him to jump into the title picture.
