Doing some writing for different places right now and trying to get some material for people to take a look at. Here's my first fight preview
UFC 203- Fabricio Werdum (20-6-1) vs Travis Browne (18-4-1)
Fabricio Werdum: After being dropped by Stipe Miocic in his first title defense, Fabricio Werdum is back to square one. His fight against Miocic was very strange to say the least. Werdum opted to go with the strategy of running at Stipe with his hands down and pressuring him all over the cage. It was an ultra-aggressive style that Werdum tried to employ, but it ultimately cost him with a well-placed counter punch from Miocic that crumbled him. Werdum has grown into a solid striker at heavyweight in the last few years, but his bread and butter is still his ground game. There are very few, if any guys on the UFC roster that can hang with Werdum on the ground. With all that said, father time is coming up fast on Fabricio. He will turn 40 next July and has been a pro since 2002. That being said, some have mentioned Werdum having looked a little “soft” in the body in his last fight which could be a result of his increasing age, lack of motivation after capturing his first UFC title, or a potential PED angle. Any of those would be disastrous, but I’m not completely sold on that being the case here.
Travis Browne: Travis Browne had a great opportunity at UFC 200 against the former champion Cain Velasquez, but was absolutely brutalized and finally finished in the waning seconds of the first round. Cain Velasquez absolutely destroyed him with ground and pound and it was very surprising that he was able to almost survive the first round. I encourage everyone to watch that fight before this weekend’s affair. At 6’7 and nearly 260 pounds for most fights, Travis Browne is a monster heavyweight or usually has a solid size advantage in fights and he certainly will against Werdum in this one, but it’ll only be a couple inches of reach. For someone so tall, Browne certainly shows the negative traits of it in the standup. He’s very awkward on the feet and his movement and balance leaves a lot to be desired, but he does pack a lot of power in his hands. The only problem is his technique just isn’t very good and has been a constant decline since leaving Jackson Wink MMA (cream of the crop gym) and shacking up at girlfriend Ronda Rousey’s gym, Glendale Fighting Club. To put it politely, fighters just don’t grow at that gym and it’s been evident in the case of Travis Browne.
BREAKDOWN: In this fight, Travis Browne only has one way to win this fight and that is knocking Werdum out with one of his powerful, yet poorly thrown punches. He did finish Matt Mitrione a couple fights ago but he was aided by a couple vicious eye pokes that left Mitrione basically unable to see out of one eye. Werdum is the more technical fighter wherever this fight ends up and I refuse to let age talk me out of playing the former champion at a discount -200 or so price against a fighter that could very easily be out of the UFC in another fight or two. Another plus factor is the beating that Browne took in his last fight against Velasquez, just a couple months ago. Browne’s chin could easily be on the way out after that fight and Werdum should certainly be able to land in this fight. I won’t call Werdum inside the distance a lock, but I do think he’s very close to a lock to win this fight in one way or the other. If it goes to a decision, Werdum should win easily and that’s why I love the points handicap of -3.5 -110 in this fight. Essentially, Werdum has to either finish the fight or win on the scorecards by more than 3.5 points. A 29-28 decision for Werdum across the board would come up a half point short for example, but a 29-28, 29-28, 30-27 decision would be enough to cash the -3.5 points handicap.
PLAY: Werdum -3.5 (-110)
UFC 203- Fabricio Werdum (20-6-1) vs Travis Browne (18-4-1)
Fabricio Werdum: After being dropped by Stipe Miocic in his first title defense, Fabricio Werdum is back to square one. His fight against Miocic was very strange to say the least. Werdum opted to go with the strategy of running at Stipe with his hands down and pressuring him all over the cage. It was an ultra-aggressive style that Werdum tried to employ, but it ultimately cost him with a well-placed counter punch from Miocic that crumbled him. Werdum has grown into a solid striker at heavyweight in the last few years, but his bread and butter is still his ground game. There are very few, if any guys on the UFC roster that can hang with Werdum on the ground. With all that said, father time is coming up fast on Fabricio. He will turn 40 next July and has been a pro since 2002. That being said, some have mentioned Werdum having looked a little “soft” in the body in his last fight which could be a result of his increasing age, lack of motivation after capturing his first UFC title, or a potential PED angle. Any of those would be disastrous, but I’m not completely sold on that being the case here.
Travis Browne: Travis Browne had a great opportunity at UFC 200 against the former champion Cain Velasquez, but was absolutely brutalized and finally finished in the waning seconds of the first round. Cain Velasquez absolutely destroyed him with ground and pound and it was very surprising that he was able to almost survive the first round. I encourage everyone to watch that fight before this weekend’s affair. At 6’7 and nearly 260 pounds for most fights, Travis Browne is a monster heavyweight or usually has a solid size advantage in fights and he certainly will against Werdum in this one, but it’ll only be a couple inches of reach. For someone so tall, Browne certainly shows the negative traits of it in the standup. He’s very awkward on the feet and his movement and balance leaves a lot to be desired, but he does pack a lot of power in his hands. The only problem is his technique just isn’t very good and has been a constant decline since leaving Jackson Wink MMA (cream of the crop gym) and shacking up at girlfriend Ronda Rousey’s gym, Glendale Fighting Club. To put it politely, fighters just don’t grow at that gym and it’s been evident in the case of Travis Browne.
BREAKDOWN: In this fight, Travis Browne only has one way to win this fight and that is knocking Werdum out with one of his powerful, yet poorly thrown punches. He did finish Matt Mitrione a couple fights ago but he was aided by a couple vicious eye pokes that left Mitrione basically unable to see out of one eye. Werdum is the more technical fighter wherever this fight ends up and I refuse to let age talk me out of playing the former champion at a discount -200 or so price against a fighter that could very easily be out of the UFC in another fight or two. Another plus factor is the beating that Browne took in his last fight against Velasquez, just a couple months ago. Browne’s chin could easily be on the way out after that fight and Werdum should certainly be able to land in this fight. I won’t call Werdum inside the distance a lock, but I do think he’s very close to a lock to win this fight in one way or the other. If it goes to a decision, Werdum should win easily and that’s why I love the points handicap of -3.5 -110 in this fight. Essentially, Werdum has to either finish the fight or win on the scorecards by more than 3.5 points. A 29-28 decision for Werdum across the board would come up a half point short for example, but a 29-28, 29-28, 30-27 decision would be enough to cash the -3.5 points handicap.
PLAY: Werdum -3.5 (-110)
