Travis Browne shocked Stefan Struve with an impressive knockout win over the 23-year-old fighter, earning an extra $70,000 with a “Knockout of the Night” bonus for his efforts.
With the UFC 130 fight being the stage for what he calls the “biggest win in his career,” Browne put himself in the position of a heavyweight others should watch out for. Getting the attention of the boss isn’t a bad way to start a buzz.
“He looked awesome tonight,” White said shortly after the UFC 130 press conference.
Now, with a record of 11-0-1, Browne looks to improve every day. Technique, strength, speed; those are all aspects of his game that he’s trying to build on and make better.
What’s the end goal for Browne? To be a bantamweight.
Well, kind of.
When talking about what he strives for in working on his skills, Browne explained that being the heavyweight version of UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz is what he shoots for.
“My goal is to be the Dominick Cruz of the heavyweight division,” Browne told MMAWeekly.com. “If you come out and fight me, you’re like, ‘what is this dude doing right now? He’s hitting me and getting out of the way and not getting hit, frustrating the hell out of me.’ People haven’t seen my wrestling, they haven’t seen my takedowns, they haven’t seen my control or anything like that. So it’s something that I’m constantly learning. Obviously, I’m not to the Dominic Cruz level yet, but that’s something that I thrive for every day. I have the athleticism to do it and that’s something that I’m looking forward to.”
While he’s doing his best to be as good as the 135-pound champ, his Allianace MMA teammate, Browne realizes that a win over someone as tough as Stefan Struve means he’ll likely take a step up in competition. With that comes the question of who, specifically, he’ll fight next. That question, however, is in the minds of the fans and UFC brass, not the recently victorious heavyweight.
Browne isn’t concerned with who he’ll fight next beyond the hope that it’s someone better than the previous fighter he faced. Taking steps up is always the key. If Browne was to call someone out and that someone happens to lose their next fight, he’ll be disappointed.
The unbeaten fighter is confident UFC matchmaker Joe Silva will do what’s right and grant him a fight that will be conducive to his career.
“As a fighter, you always want to progress in your career,” Browne explained. “So I don’t want to call somebody out and then they lose, and then I’m like, ‘dang it!’ So, I don’t want to do that. That’s why I’m kind of leaving it up to them.”
Fortunately, nearly any fight he’s given next is good for him and his career, as he sees it. He feels all the heavyweights in the UFC are A-grade and none are to be taken lightly. Browne firmly believes that he personally defeated that logic with his win over Struve on Saturday night. The mass opinion was that Browne was your run-of-the-mill, average heavyweight, but he sees that the knockout made enough of an impact to throw that opinion out the window.
“There’s no easy fight in the UFC,” he said. “People say there’s a B-level, there’s an A-level. No, man. Because I was considered a C-level and look what happened.”
Happy with his victory, Travis Browne is looking to relax and spend some leisure time with the people he cares about most. When in the Octagon, he’s a fierce brawler capable of landing lighting-quick Superman punches. But outside of the famed-arena, Browne fancies himself a family man; one that cares for his kids and enjoys being a father.
As a dad, he does what any respected and warm-hearted father would do with the big bonus he brings home from work. He spends it at the happiest place on Earth.
“That money right there, that should go towards my kids,” he said. “I’m a family man behind the scenes. I’m just a dad. I just want to spend time with my kids, maybe take them to Disneyland.”
Judging by how much tickets are to Disneyland, that $70,000 bonus will come in real handy.
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Erik Fontanez is a staff writer for MMAWeekly.com.
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