Well that was fast. It did’t take much for Fraricio Werdum to get a new opponent for UFC 203 after it was announced that Big Ben Rothwell had a booboo. Now the former heavyweight champion will have a rematch with Travis Browne.
The information was confirmed by MMA Junkie this Thursday evening.
UFC 203 will take place on September 10 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
At least the fight of the year is still intact…
Fraricio Werdem (20-6-1 MMA, 8-3 UFC) and Travis Browne (18-4-1 MMA, 9-4-1 UFC) first matched up and fought at the main event at UFC on FOX 11 back in April 2014 when Werdum claimed victory after the fight by unanimous decision. If you remember the fight, it was a fun one.. Werdum was practically toying with Browne.
It seemed after reviewing the fight Werdum had no problems in defeating the American by unanimous decision, which set him up for his title shot and dominant victory over Cain. Fabricio is a BJJ master, but he’s not afraid to throw some gloves, either.
Werdum will have his first fight after losing the belt. The Brazilian who was crowned champion last year, tried to defend his belt against Stipe Miocic, but lost by Knockout in the first round.
Browne has been going win-lose-win-lose, and lost by TKO in the first round against former champion Cain Velasquez at UFC 200. Werdum will be the favorite to beat Browne again, especially since Browne has been training at a gym that tends to bring out the worst in fighters.
He’s been training at the same gym as his girlfriend Ronda Rousey, and we’ve seen a steep decline from numerous fighters after they started training in Glendale, including Jake Ellenberger whose career was all but over before he flied to Vegas to beg for another chance, changed up gyms, and got a huge victory over Matt Brown at UFC 201. The win/loss record for fighters out of that gym that aren’t named Ronda leaves a lot to be desired.
This is a quick turnaround for Travis, who was laid out at UFC 200 just a couple of months previous to this next bout.
It’s always disappointing when an exciting fight gets cancelled due to injury, but this is a good replacement and it should be a fun bout. Both guys need this win. Fabricio wants to show that he’s still at the top of the division and claw his way back to the belt, and Matt wants to avenge a tough loss to the former division champion.
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