Manager: Mitrione made ‘poor choice,' says Browne and Rousey not engaged

Two days after UFC heavyweight Travis Browne beat Matt Mitrione via TKO at UFC Fight Night 81, he was already sparring with Twitter critics who said he’d fought dishonorably.

After one said Browne “went after” Mitrione after an illegal eye-poke – ruled accidental by the ref, who did not take a point despite another infraction – and declared “that’s his character!” Browne wrote back, “Oh did I?? Did you count how many times his back was turned after his combos? I didn’t know.”

“Doubt most of the people chirping about it have been in a fight, period,” he wrote to another.

These responses, his manager John Fosco told MMAjunkie, were a human response to what’s been a successful and yet difficult period in the heavyweight’s career. While he’s enjoyed a resurgence, and eventually stopped Mitrione (9-5 MMA, 9-5 UFC) in the third round with a flurry of punches at the Jan. 17 event, he’s a controversial presence outside the cage.

Browne defended himself at the post-event press conference, saying he had no ill will during the bout. He defiantly added, “People can’t smash my dreams, so they try to assassinate my character.”

Even before he stepped into the cage, fans booed Browne (18-3-1 MMA, 9-3-1 UFC) at the UFC Fight Night 81 weigh-ins. Several fans and observers have gone so far as to call him the most hated fighter on the UFC’s roster. And sometimes, Fosco said, Browne can’t help but defend himself.

“You saw it for a minute because we all want to strike back when people strike us, but he thought better of it and removed himself,” Fosco said of the Twitter messages.

An accusation of domestic violence from his estranged wife, Jenna Renee, which resulted in a brief suspension and investigation by the UFC before the promotion cleared him of wrongdoing, was followed by the announcement of a relationship with former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, the promotion’s biggest star.

Renee went on the offensive toward the couple, posting several highly inflammatory tweets and claiming the relationship started while she was still married to Browne.

After Rousey starred this past Saturday on “Saturday Night Live,” Renee posted a photo on Instagram of the UFC star sporting a ring and added, “I’m pretty sure we’re still married.”

The picture made its way around the Internet, adding to a long list of unflattering headlines about the UFC heavyweight.

Fosco on Monday said Renee and Browne are divorced and added that Browne and Rousey are not engaged (Renee did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment). He said the fighter has gone through some “growing pains” dealing with the situation, but said he’s getting better at handling the negative attention.

The manager, a frequently outspoken presence in the MMA business, adamantly denies Browne is guilty of domestic violence and maintains Renee tried to smear his name after their relationship soured.

“I tell him, ‘Travis, we’re looking at three years of unfair treatment. Let’s not cry about it,’” Fosco said. “People are going to do what they’re going to do.

“He’s human, so it’s not normal for a human being to be in a national situation where you’re accused of something you didn’t do. That was very hard for him. It’s very hard for him to adjust to a relationship where everything is scrutinized.”

Where Fosco interjects on his client’s behalf is scrutiny from critics – and former opponents. Mitrione this past week told MMAjunkie the fight with Browne should have been stopped by the referee after the pair of eye-pokes.

Mitrione said he was incapable of admitting he couldn’t continue because of his competitive nature and claimed a third-round punch that caused his eye to swell grotesquely wouldn’t have happened if the referee had done his job.

While Fosco said Mitrione is “a good guy,” he said the blame is misdirected.

“(Mitrione) chose to continue, which means for all intents and purposes, he felt he could continue and win the fight,” Fosco said. “After, he got his eye blown out by a straight right, that (UFC President) Dana White backed up at the press conference and the replay backed up, and he got destroyed. I’m sorry things didn’t go his way, but I’m just speaking about facts. And the fact is, when we make decisions as men, it’s very unprofessional to go back and say, ‘Well, this isn’t very fair because of my contract negotiation.’ You should have quit then.”

Fosco opined that Mitrione was compelled to continue because he didn’t want to deal with the backlash of bowing out of the fight and made a poor decision as a result. He said it’s Mitrione’s style of rushing forward that explains the repeated accidental fouls.

“We like Matt Mitrione,” he said. “I just think he made a poor choice by speaking on something that was a decision that he solely made after the fact and talking about how it could have been. I think any responsible adult doesn’t do that, and it’s not fair to his opponent who worked and trained hard to win.”

With Browne now back in the win column after a TKO loss to ex-champ Andrei Arlovski, Fosco is unsure of the fighter’s next move. But he thinks Browne should face Ben Rothwell (35-9 MMA, 5-3 UFC) if the heavyweight veteran is able to defeat Josh Barnett (34-7 MMA, 6-2 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC on FOX 18 co-headliner, or perhaps the winner of a UFC Fight Night 84 headliner between ex-champ Frank Mir (18-10 MMA, 16-10 UFC) and Mark Hunt (11-10-1 MMA, 6-4-1 UFC).

“The way I look at it is Browne is maybe one or two fights away from the title,” Fosco said.

In the meantime, it’s unlikely Browne will be left alone. If Fosco has any say in it, though, you won’t see him take on every critic. In the end, it’s one fight he can’t win.

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 81, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.