Fabricio Werdum: Travis Browne Is A Good Striker, But Every Heavyweight Is

Out of action since his UFC on Fuel TV 10 submission win over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira last June, No. 2-ranked UFC heavyweight Fabricio Werdum has the chance of a lifetime at ).s UFC on FOX 11 headliner versus Travis Browne next Saturday night (April 19, 2014).

A win will most likely earn “Vai Cavalo” a long-awaited shot at injured champion Cain Velasquez’ belt, making next Saturday’s main event a pivotal one, to say the least.

Known for his all-world Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills, Werdum famously put a shocking end to legendary Pride FC champion Fedor Emelianenko’s long unbeaten streak, and has won three straight UFC bouts after making his way over from Strikeforce in early 2012.

With a path towards glory at hand, Werdum met up with Karyn Bryant of MMA H.E.A.T. to discuss “Hapa’s” power, downplaying it a bit by noting that a striker from any heavyweight can end a fight:

“I think Travis Browne is a good opponent; he’s coming from a good straight three quick victories, three best “Knockout of the Night.” I think fighting him at this time of my career; he’s a good opponent, because I’m one step away from the title after I beat him.

I think he is a good striker, but I think in the heavyweight division everybody is; it’s just one strike, one punch or one kick is enough to knock somebody out. I’m not worried about him. I think he’s a good fighter, but I’m more worried about my training and my camp.”

Werdum sounds confident as always, and it may be for good reason. He and Browne trained together a few years back, and Werdum allegedly got by far the best of the ground exchanges. That’s not really a surprise, but Browne has definitely improved by leaps and bounds since then.

And he’ll have to get the Hawaiian knockout striker to the ground first, something that has proven very difficult to accomplish in Browne’s recent matches. Werdum has been displaying his own brand of rapidly improving Muay Thai in recent years, but will that be enough to drag “Hapa” into deep Florida water?