Browne, speaking to UFC President Dana White on the heavyweight’s own Tough Business podcast, seemingly came to the defense of his boss (or is it former boss?) after weeks of headlines regarding UFC athletes struggling to make a living.

“You guys have always treated me right,” Browne said (h/t MMA Fighting). “The pay has been there, and again, it’s always been at least what the contract was, and most of the time it was more. So these people that are complaining, people in the media that don’t f*cking hear that they hear the little b*tch that’s crying and complaining. Because you get these, like, entitled people. Or I don’t know where the f*ck it comes from.”

“It’s like, they’re just whiny little b*tches,” added Browne, who then took a dig at the media coverage, adding “and then they go to more whiny little b*tches that’ll write about it.”

Everyone from former champion Miesha Tate to Cheyanne Buys to recent main event fighter Jared Cannonier has spoken up about fighter pay over the summer. Through numbers revealed during an ongoing anti-trust lawsuit against the Ultimate Fighting Championship, it has been revealed that athletes under the UFC banner see less than 20% of the promotion’s revenue paid out to them. In comparison, leagues like the NHL, NFL, and NBA hover around 50%.

Browne (18-7-1) has not competed inside the octagon since a 2017 loss to Aleksei Oleinik. That defeat marked his fourth straight in the promotion, three of the four coming via stoppage. Overall, Browne posted a 9-7-1 record in the UFC, though he has never officially announced his retirement. The heavyweight is married to former UFC women’s bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey, one of the most popular fighters in promotion history — and one of the highest paid.

The post UFC Heavyweight Travis Browne Has Strong Words for Fighters Upset Over Pay appeared first on Cageside Press.

Are we simply too addicted as fans to the sport we hold dear, or did MMA remain the story this weekend even though there was an utter lack of, you know, MMA? That was the original question I planned to posit following a weekend with no major mixed martial arts shows, but with a couple of events with strong ties to the sport.

Then, I came to realize something: over the past forty-eight hours, I’d watched Bob Cole’s final NHL broadcast, made time for friends and family, and never once had to tell someone “sorry, there are fights on, I’ve got to work.”

And that, folks, is a very good thing.

Oh, before we go any further: As someone will no doubt point out, there was MMA action this past weekend. Yet the UFC, Bellator, Invicta, ONE, they were nowhere to be found. The PFL hasn’t started its season yet. RIZIN is back later this month. Somehow, the MMA gods forgot this lonely April weekend.

And yet we still had plenty to talk about. With no major MMA shows going on, MMA couldn’t stay out of the headlines. Part of that was thanks to the WWE, which has long been happy to capitalize on the growth of the sport for its own gain. Two of the biggest stars in the company, Brock Lesnar and Ronda Rousey, both turned up at WrestleMania 35 on Sunday night. Both lost their titles, Lesnar to Seth Rollins, Rousey to Becky Lynch.

This is no doubt the moment where MMA purists spit, or make a hasty sign of the cross, or simply begin to froth at the mouth, but the reality is, Rousey and Lesnar’s respective losses will now have the MMA-sphere talking. Monday morning, the chatter will be all about when Lesnar is coming back. When the inevitable fight with Daniel Cormier will happen.

For Rousey, talk will be about whether she’ll come back from a scripted loss. Or if she’s going to leave the WWE after just a year, to start a family. As if it were unthinkable, some insurmountable task, to accomplish both.

But MMA getting involved didn’t stop there. In a bizarre scene Saturday, Bret Hart, the Canadian pro wrestling icon, was attacked during his WWE Hall of Fame speech by a fan making an idiot of himself. That fan was later identified as Zachary Madsen, an amateur MMA fighter with a 2-1 record who last competed in March 2018. The less said about him, the better, but it was Travis Browne, Rousey’s better half, who was first to Hart’s aid, softening up Madsen with some ground n’ pound.

The publicity seeker is probably lucky it’s not the good ol’ days of wrestling’s heyday, or he likely would have taken a fair bit more punishment.

Then there was what might have been the biggest combat sports event of the weekend, Bare Knuckle FC 5. Licensed in just a handful of states, bare knuckle boxing made a big comeback in 2018, and that appears set to continue in 2019. Is it a sideshow spectacle? Pretty much. Is there much sporting merit to it? That remains to be seen.

Will it draw attention when guys as tough as Artem Lobov and Jason Knight throw down in the main event? Absolutely. Say what you will about Artem and all the GOAT jokes, but the ‘Russian Hammer’ is one tough son of a gun.

Any plaster lads??? pic.twitter.com/JnivAMyMUy

— Artem Lobov (@RusHammerMMA) April 7, 2019

Remember folks, that photo represents what the winner looked like after the fight. Lobov has now landed himself a fight with Paulie Malignaggi, ex-sparring partner of Lobov’s pal Conor McGregor. Malignaggi has done everything he can to land a fight with the Irish star, and a bareknuckle bout with Lobov is something he may see as an inroad to land it.

Then again, after witnessing the carnage of Lobov vs. Knight, he may wake up Monday morning having second thoughts.

But again, it was MMA stars bringing the spotlight to a competing venture. Just as they did the WWE. But no MMA itself. Not this weekend. This weekend was a rarity in the sport — but one that should probably happen a little more often.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, after all.

It was nice to have a break. As much as MMA is a passion for those of us covering the sport, and for fans, it’s nearly impossible to keep up. Off-seasons in other sports let players, and fans, regroup. The PFL has followed that format, in a nice change-up. It’s doubtful the biggest players, like the UFC and Bellator, ever will — there’s simply too much on the line.

Yet wouldn’t it be nice. We’d still be talking about the sport, as we did this weekend with Rousey and Lesnar and Lobov making headlines. It would simply be from a different angle. We’d free ourselves from a never-ending cycle of what’s next, who’s next. We’d anticipate the start of the new fight season. Fighters wouldn’t have to worry about always being ready, in case a short notice opportunity were to arise.

Again, though, too many promotions. Too much money on the line. So we’ll continue to have to take our breaks when we can get them.

The post Weekend Break from MMA Action A Reminder of Why Off-Seasons Are Important appeared first on Cageside Press.

The retirement question is a touchy one in mixed martial arts. Many factors need to be taken into account when attempting to answer it, and perhaps it can’t be answered as long as a fighter is cleared to compete by one of the inept athletic commissions we’ve come to admire. Punishment taken over the course of a career, financial incentives, age, title aspirations, and CTE are all things fighters should ponder as they give themselves the Joe Rogan Talk. Is a little brain damage worth another paycheck? It’s conceivable. Not smart — but conceivable.

No one can say for sure when it’s time for a mixed martial artist to hang up the gloves, but when losses start to add up inside the octagon and a UFC Championship is out of reach – it’s time to at least consider hanging up the gloves.

Some of these fighters could be paraded out for years to come as part of a young UFC lion/lioness’ next meal, or allowed to headline television cards as gatekeepers until their health diminishes to the point of early dementia. But which UFC Heavyweights should leave the sport now that the time is right before they die in the cage?

Andrei Arlovski (27-16, 1 NC)

Notable Wins: Tim Sylvia, Ben Rothwell, Roy Nelson, Brendan Schaub, Antonio Silva, Travis Browne, Frank Mir, Stefan Struve

Andrei Arlovski is a former UFC Heavyweight Champion that left the Ultimate Fighting Championship on a win streak in 2008 before being knocked out three times and suffering four straight losses to Fedor Emelianenko, Brett ‘I beat women and should be publicly shamed for the rest of my life’ Rogers, Antonio Silva, and Sergei Kharitonov. It seemed improbable at that point that Arlovski would ever step foot inside the octagon again, but that’s exactly what happened just a few years later.

In 2014 Arlovski would make a miraculous UFC return as he rattled off four straight wins of his own against Brendan Schaub, Antonio Silva, Travis Browne, and Frank Mir.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50P_LZAjviI

Andrei’s return to the UFC was incredible and watching him turn back the clock for a short while was fun – but his success really didn’t last long. Title aspirations waned after a TKO loss to Stipe Miocic back at UFC 173 in 2013 and things never really got better from there as Arlovski lost 6 of his last 8 fights.

Arlovski has taken a tremendous amount of punishment in his career and at this point I’d like to believe he only fights for his guaranteed $270,000+ paychecks. His position as a gatekeeper is cemented as long as ‘The Pitbull’ would like to compete, but his days as a UFC Title contender are over as he’s lost to four fighters in the top ten, not including Stipe Miocic.

Arlovski will turn 40 next February, but he’s endured 44 professional bouts in his career and he has nothing left to prove at this point. Everybody knows he can still compete with the right top 15-25 heavyweights, but should he?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n76pc648oLc

Mark Hunt (13-12-1, 1 NC)

Notable Wins: Wanderlei Silva, Mirko Cro Cop, Ben Rothwell, Stefan Struve, Cheick Kongo, Roy Nelson, Antonio Silva, Frank Mir, Derrick Lewis

Mark Hunt has always been around a .500 fighter in MMA, but he’s finished so many people and waltzed off immediately after that Hunt’s been dubbed ‘King of the Walk off KO.’

There’s nobody in the UFC that Mark Hunt couldn’t finish if he caught them square in the chin and the ‘Super Samoan’ is known for walking through ridiculous amounts of punishment while maintaining his composure, but he’s appeared extra sluggish recently and since 2013 Hunt’s been knocked out four times:

via GIPHY

OMG I'VE NEVER SEEN THIS HAPPEN TO MARK HUNT!!!
OMFG!!!#UFC209 dammit pic.twitter.com/2LoyyDjsZ2

— 808LK (@808LK) March 5, 2017

Hunt has said publicly that he’d like to finish out his remaining UFC contract (2 fights remaining) and then fight three times globally before retiring.

That’s probably the best move he can make at this point in his career unless he can secure a title shot with the remaining two fights on his contract – which is very unlikely both because of Hunt’s recent performances inside the cage and because of his lawsuits with the UFC. Mark Hunt turns 44 next March and commands a very large paycheck each time he fights. The UFC would likely not offer another lucrative contract after his current deal expires given his status with the company.

We are down to just two Mark Hunt classics in the UFC.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrXoGXCouK4

Travis Browne-Rousey (18-7-1)

Notable Wins: Stefan Struve, Gabriel Gonzaga, Alistair Overeem, Josh Barnett, Brendan Schaub, Matt Mitrione

Travis Browne had some of the most incredible highlight reel knockouts in UFC history and then one day his fight skills went rogue. Perhaps it was his just a matter of MMA math, or maybe he partnered with the wrong trainers/coaches. Either way, he doesn’t have ‘it’ anymore.

Browne hasn’t competed since he lost to Oleksiy Oliynyk via rear-naked choke at UFC 213 last July and it doesn’t appear we’ll see him step inside the octagon again, though he’s still in the USADA testing pool. Prior to UFC 213 Browne lost to Derrick Lewis via KO, Fabricio Werdum via decision, Cain Velasquez by knockout, cheated against Matt Mitrione by gouging his eye, and got obliterated by Andrei Arlovski at UFC 187.

Let’s not forget though, Browne was once a promising prospect that routinely finished off legends of the sport with vicious knockouts:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljUXwAsMWeo

Alistair Overeem (43-17, 1 NC)

Notable Wins: Vitor Belfort (x2), Sergei Kharitonov, Mark Hunt, Fabricio Werdum (x2), Brock Lesnar, Frank Mir, Stefan Struve, Roy Nelson, Junior dos Santos, Andrei Arlovski

Alistair Overeem dominated the sport of MMA for well over a decade and defeated some of the best fighters to ever live. He captured the Strikeforce Heavyweight Championship and Dream Heavyweight Championship along the way, but towards the end of his career the glass jaw that ended his PRIDE run seems to once again be an issue.

In his last outing at UFC 225, Overeem was demolished on the ground by Curtis Blaydes’ elbows and before that he suffered the most devastating knockout in UFC history at the hands of Francis Ngannou at UFC 218.

Alistair Overeem will continue to be booked as long as he wants to fight, but his days as a title contender are likely through unless he avoids grapplers with power or Brock Lesnar somehow ends up with the UFC Championship again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zb7ju4Vdh1o

The post End of the Line: UFC Heavyweights Who Should Call It A Career appeared first on Cageside Press.

Frankie Edgar just lost via knockout against Brian Ortega at UFC 222 on March 3. March 20, it was revealed that talks were underway for Frankie to fight Cub Swanson in a rematch at UFC Atlantic City. Which takes place April 21, a card that is headlined by Kevin Lee vs. Edson Barboza. So, 49 days after being knocked out cold by Ortega, Edgar will be fighting again. Against someone who hits really hard and is an incredibly good striker in Cub Swanson.

History and common sense would absolutely say this is a horrid idea. For one, it takes your brain time to heal after getting its lights shut out. In fact, it can be deadly if you don’t properly take time off.  Fighters have died in the past from Second Impact Syndrome after they did not take proper time off after taking damage in a fight. I mean, there’s a reason why you get medically suspended after getting knocked out. Your brain needs time to heal.

But Frankie Edgar is sadly not the only fighter to do something like this, and take a fight on short notice after getting stopped. So let’s take a look at three other fighters who took a fight on short notice after getting finished.

Michael Bisping: 21 Days

The most recent and byfar most known example on this list belongs to former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping. Michael Bisping was in a back and forth competitive fight at UFC 217 against Georges-St-Pierre. Ultimately on November 4, 2017, after getting knocked down and almost finished with brutal elbows, he found himself in a rear-naked choke and went unconscious. So naturally, he would return three weeks later against the hard-hitting Kelvin Gastelum.

After Anderson Silva found his way out of their contest due to USADA issues, Bisping found his way in against Gastelum at UFC Shanghai. The result was exactly what you would think it would be. Only a couple of minutes into the first round, Bisping was hit with a one-two and went out cold.

Travis Browne: 62 Days 

Ah, Travis Browne. Before he started going downhill he was one of the heavyweight division’s greatest fighters. However, once he started going downhill, he went fast. Included in his fast freefall was his fight against Cain Velasquez at UFC 200. On July 9, 2016, Browne was dominated and finished in the first round by the former champion. So the only logical next step in his career path would be to step in for the injured Ben Rothwell at UFC 203, only 63 days later.

So that he did. On September 10, Browne stepped in to fight Fabricio Werdum at UFC 203 in its co-main event. The two had previously fought before where Browne was dominated. Despite almost being finished in the first round, Browne actually did better in the second bout than the first, with Browne having some success mostly in the third round. However, Browne still came up short losing a decision to the former champ. Sending him further down his spiral in the heavyweight division.

Uriah Hall: 63 Days

Uriah Hall shocked the MMA world with his knockout of Gegard Mousasi in September of 2015. However, the momentum didn’t last for Hall, as he lost his next two fights. After the second defeat, a TKO loss to Derek Brunson on September 17, it was announced he would fight Mousasi again in the main event of UFC Belfast on November 19, after the previous main event fell out.

The result was predictable and not shocking. Gegard Mousasi dominated Hall in the first round as Hall didn’t throw much offense. He was then taken down and trapped as Gegard started landing ground and pound. Hall didn’t move and the fight was stopped near the end of the first round.

Let it be known that medical suspensions are in place to protect fighters from themselves and their insistence to erase bad losses of their records.

The post UFC Atlantic City: Frankie Edgar and the History of Bad Short Notice Fights appeared first on Cageside Press.

Capping off the Fox Sports 1 Preliminary card of UFC 213, Browne vs. Oliynyk was the story of a veteran submission specialist against a fighter once considered one of the more promising new generation heavyweights.

Oliynyk immediately began looking to find a way inside on the much taller Browne. He did not appear afraid to trade, and swung a couple of haymakers towards Browne that didn’t land. Browne utilized kicks, and was using his reach well early. In the clinch Oliynyk landed some uppercuts to the body, but Browne rocked his opponent with a left hook, and they went to the ground. Oliynyk survived, for the time being at least. An overhand by Oliynyk dropped Browne moments later! In the clinch, Oliynyk landed more hard uppercuts to the abdomen. Browne would try for high kicks, but with a minute left Oliynyk was able to take Browne down. He would work for a choke, but Browne was saved by the bell.

In the second, Oliynyk again went to the body with every clinch. Browne, meanwhile, looked to keep the fight at range. Two minutes in, however, Browne found himself on top, grappling with the submission expert. Before long, Oliynyk had reversed position and had Browne’s back, dropping shots from behind. Before long, he had an arm under Browne’s chin and slowly tightened the choke!

Oleksiy Oliynyk def. Travis Browne by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 2, 3:44

The post UFC 213 Results: Oleksiy Oliynyk Chokes Out Travis Browne appeared first on Cageside Press.