Travis Browne: Werdum Doesn’t Have What It Takes To Beat Cain

No. 3-ranked UFC heavyweight Travis Browne has been out of action since losing a one-sided decision to the surprising striking of soon-to-be title challenger Fabricio Werdum at April 19’s UFC on FOX 11 from Orlando.

Werdum was largely able to pick Browne apart with his vastly improved Muay Thai striking, shocking many who believed “Vai Cavalo’s” only advantage was his elite Brazilian jiu-jitsu pedigree.

The win earned him a shot at returning champion Cain Velasquez in the main event of November 15’s UFC 180 pay-per-view (PPV) event from Mexico City, Mexico, but that’s where Browne believes Werdum’s luck will run out. “Hapa” told MMA Junkie that he believes Werdum simply doesn’t have what it takes to be champion:

“(Werdum) doesn’t have what it takes to beat Cain. Not at all. Cain’s a very smart fighter. He’s not going to put himself in a situation, I believe, to get submitted. That’s where Werdum would win the fight. In my opinion, I stood there and took Werdum’s best strikes and not once did he have me rocked during the whole fight. Maybe I have a Mark Hunt chin, but his strikes weren’t bothering me.”

Browne may not have been heavily rocked by Werdum’s strikes, but he was rendered essentially ineffective after cutting a path of destruction through the heavyweight division prior to the bout.

Werdum appears to be one of the most improved fighters in the UFC, and he was never anything less than elite, but Browne does make a good point in his assumption that Velasquez probably won’t be in a position to be submitted.

The smothering champion has never tapped out, and his only loss was his UFC on FOX 1 knockout defeat at the hands of Junior dos Santos, a fight where Velasquez was coming in off a long layoff from shoulder surgery. With his last win a brutal fifth round stoppage of dos Santos at UFC 166 last October, he’ll be doing the exact same thing against Werdum.

However, few give Werdum the same kind of respect in terms of fight-ending power. And although it may humble him, Browne seemingly has no problem admitting that “Vai Cavalo” won’t get Velasquez in the same bad spots as he did him:

“He had me in his position three or four times in the fight and I had no problem getting out. That’s going to be a problem, because he’s not going to get Cain on his back like he was able to get me on my back and Cain’s too smart to play his game.”

Velasquez is indeed a smart fighter, a relentless machine who trains with one of the best camps in the sport at American Kickboxing Academy (AKA). He’ll show up to UFC 180 with a precise gameplan in place, and Werdum will definitely have to fight his best-ever fight to win.

Does “Vai Cavalo” have any chance to score yet another shocking upset and emerge with the UFC heavyweight crown?