Heavyweight Travis Browne, at 6' 7" is big and strong; agile and mobile; deadly combinations that have given him good fortune as an MMA fighter. And Travis Browne has made a habit of steamrolling his hapless opponents in the cage. In fact, out of Browne's 13 victories, he recorded 5 wins via the very short route, all made under a minute in the first round.
Yes, Travis Browne who was undefeated, going into UFC on FX in Minnesota has been dubbed by some quarters to be MMA's rising star, and because of the manner he is disposing his opponents one after another, Browne's supporters and some MMA observers have probably entertained the notion that he is unsinkable.
Thus, oddsmakers installed him a 2-to-1 favorite to dispose veteran Antonio "Pezão" Silva in their heavyweight encounter at the Target Center in Minneapolis last Friday night.
But Antonio Silva, who throughout his career had faced, fought and scraped with the best of what the MMA world has to offer (Fedor Emelianenko, Daniel Cormier, Cain Velasquez, Fabricio Werdum, Andrei Arlovski) albeit with mixed fortunes, has promised to do what he does best inside the cage-
"I respect all my opponents but inside the cage, I will hurt him because I was born to fight."
But coming off two successive losses via stoppage, nobody really took Antonio Silva seriously. To many casual MMA observers, the veteran has seen better days and is ripe for the picking. Many have already fallen in love with the exciting reputation of the supposedly 'unsinkable' Travis Browne, and picked him to easily stump the Bigfoot from Brazil.
However, if there's one fighter who knows how to come back from the pits, it is Antonio Silva. Nicknamed "Pezão" which is "Bigfoot" in Portuguese, Silva has the talent, power and skills set to give any man inside the cage hell.
Travis Browne's road to oblivion began when he tried to be flashy against a very dangerous and accomplished fighter. Early in the first round, Travis Browne was a picture of confidence as he jumpstarted his attack with an overhand right that was blocked, a spinning back kick that missed and an attempted right kick that never pushed through, as Antonio Silva invaded his space and smacked him with a short right hand.
Then Travis Browne tried a jumping front kick that came short as Antonio Silva just stepped back, just out of reach. Still Travis Browne was in his element: light on his feet, bouncing and shuffling, while Antonio Silva was on guard, hands up high and biding his time to counter strike.
At more than two minutes into the fight, Travis Browne tried several unorthodox kicks: low, front and side aiming for Bigfoot's knees and shin. But Antonio Silva kicked, punched forward and attempted a takedown but was met with a high knee to the stomach while coming in. Still, Antonio Silva was not deterred and cornered Travis Browne on the side of the cage as Bigfoot employed his own trick of the trade -- trying to stump Browne's feet with his big feet for some time.
The turning point came at approximately the three minute mark when Travis Browne tweaked his left knee while trying to mount an inside attack. Less than 5 seconds later, Travis Browne unleashed a left that was easily blocked by Antonio Silva. The Brazilian retaliated with a front kick that landed on Travis Browne's breadbasket but found himself on the seat of his pants from the recoil.
Travis Browne tried his best to put up a fight, but fighting on just one good leg is just futile against a hungry and determined veteran. Travis Browne tried to adjust by turning southpaw, hiding his bad leg to no avail. Browne ate a right counter from Bigfoot as he also continuously targeted Browne's bad leg, while slowly but surely invading his opponent's comfort zone. Bigfoot stalked his prey while Browne slowly backpedaled...
Shortly thereafter, mayhem fell on Travis Browne.
And when the dust finally settled, Travis Browne saw his unbeaten run halted in 3:27 of the first round when he got caught with a right sledgehammer to the jaw that sent shockwaves to his brain, his eyes rolling and reeling from the power, he sank sideways to the canvas wherein Bigfoot pounced on him and pounded his head with short blows and quick hammers, prompting referee Herb Dean to step in and stop the beatdown.
Antonio "Pezão" Silva stamped his class over an obviously dejected Travis Browne. Thus, Antonio Silva finally won a UFC fight and improved his record to 1-1 in the UFC ; 17-4, 12 KOs overall, moving into contention in the heavyweight division.
With the first setback of his 15-fight pro career, Travis Browne needs to go back to the drawing boards and work out more on his game so as to reverse his fortune whenever he steps up his opposition. He was held to a draw by Cheick Kongo at UFC 120 in October 2010.
Note: This article was previously published on Detroit Fight Sports Examiner
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