Why Travis Browne is fine with fighting former roommate Andrei Arlovski
LOS ANGELES – Those who aren't familiar with the culture of mixed martial arts might find this an odd dynamic: Your roommate today could be the guy you're punching in the face in front of 15,000 people somewhere down the road.
UFC heavyweight contender Travis Browne (17-2-1) knew this was a possibility a couple years back, when he let former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski (23-10, 1 no-contest) crash on his couch in Browne's Albuquerque home while Arlovski got settled into the city.
Browne was a mainstay at New Mexico's famed Jackson's MMA gym. Arlovski, coming off a string of bad losses, was just joining up with Jackson's, looking for a fresh start on a career gone awry.
They'd push each other in the gym as sparring partners, help each other to be their best. But with only so many top-notch heavyweights out there, chances were good that their paths would cross at some point.
"That's something Andrei and I were talking about when he was living in my house," Browne said. "Before he signed with the UFC, I said, 'We may as well make some money doing what we're doing in the gym, you know?' He said, 'OK, only for the title or big money.'"
That big-money opportunity is here. These days, Arlovski remains affiliated with Jackson's, but Browne has moved on to the Glendale Fighting Club in the Los Angeles area. And the topic discussed in Browne's house a few years back has come to pass: The duo will square off in an intriguing main-card bout Saturday at UFC 187 in Las Vegas.
While Browne maintains his friendship with Arlovski, Saturday night will be all business.
"He's been a mentor for me," Browne said. "He's always telling me to take care of myself financially and this and that. I look up to him as a fighter and a friend and stuff, but that's not going to stop me from doing my job."
The Arlovski bout was a welcome change of pace for Browne, who's coming off a tense fight with Brendan Schaub at UFC 181. Schaub did quite a bit of trash talk leading up to the fight. Browne responded with his fists in the Octagon. Browne delivered a schoolyard-bully style beating so severe that afterwards, Schaub was told to retire in a Joe Rogan podcast clip that went viral.
"He [expletive] pissed me off," the usually easygoing Browne said. "That was the one time I was like, 'I'm going to hurt you.' He poked the bear. I just wanted him to know he was my little [expletive]. So I was grabbing both of his hands with one hand and pinning them over his head, you know what I mean? Just looking for my right hand to shove it down his throat. Then I grabbed his one arm and drove it across his face, I wanted him to know I had no mercy for him. I let my emotions get the best of me in that fight."
It's highly unlikely Arlovski will bring out Browne's dark side the way Schaub did. Asked to contrast his approach to the Arlovski fight as compared to Schaub, Browne relayed the story of cornering Arlovski for his 2013 World Series of Fighting bout against Anthony Johnson, who headlines UFC 187 against Daniel Cormier.
Johnson broke Arlovski's jaw midway through the fight, but Arlovski not only went the distance, he won the final round on the scorecards before losing via unanimous decision.
"I've shared blood, sweat and tears with that guy," Browne said. "When he fought Anthony Johnson, in between rounds, I went over and picked his tooth up off the mat because he broke his jaw. You know what I mean? When you're that close with somebody, you're sharing a piece of that person. ... He's a warrior through and through, man, you should have seen his jaw in that fight. It was shoved back in the back of his throat. And he fought for two rounds like that, and won the last round. It's like, holy [expletive], that guy's a warrior."
Browne's departure from Jackson's camp last year was amicable. The Glendale Fighting Club, best known as the MMA home of Ronda Rousey, is a small, family-like enterprise which is known for tailoring the entire gym around an upcoming fight for one of its marquee fighters.
"I've still got all the respect in the world for the Jackson's guys," Browne said. "We're cool. I just looked for something different and I found it in Glendale."
Browne has won four of his past five fights, but that loss, in April 2014, was to current UFC interim champion Fabricio Werdum. So a win over Arlovski is necessary to keep his name near the top of heavyweight mix. The 36-year-old Arlovski, who was UFC champ from 2005-06, has won four straight, eight of nine, and is 2-0 since returning to the UFC.
While Browne and Arlovski worked together for quite some time, it's also been a year since he left Albuquerque. Browne knows Greg Jackson is one of the sport's craftiest game planners, so he's not going to act like the Arlovski he trained with a year ago is still the same fighter today.
"Me and him haven't trained together for a year," Browne said. "It is in my best interests, I know he can adapt to different things and styles, so I think he's going to come out and he might have timed it a little more, or try to get in my face, or kickbox more. So I have to be ready for anything. One thing Coach Jackson, as a coach, he has the ability to take an athlete and fit a game plan in. That's something I have to respect."
Follow Dave Doyle on Twitter: @DaveDoyleMMA
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