Travis Browne – The Silent Assassin

When looking at the current list of top ten competitors in the heavyweight division, there are only two names in the UFC that stand undefeated over the last two years.

One of them is UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos and the other is UFC on FX 5 headliner Travis Browne.

In the last two years since coming to the UFC, Browne has kept his record perfect while dispatching of four different opponents (and one draw to Cheick Kongo), and has looked very impressive along the way.

Browne put away Strikeforce transfer Chad Griggs in his last fight, and also has a knockout win to his credit over recent UFC on Fuel 5 main event winner Stefan Struve.

Quietly, Browne has amassed a great record in the UFC, pushed his way into the top ten, and now gets his first chance at a main event when he takes on Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva at UFC on FX 5 this weekend.

Still through it all, Browne has remained one of the quietest guys in the division when it comes to title shot talk. It’s not because he doesn’t deserve it, but Browne won’t be the one calling for it to happen.

“I’m a firm believer in that. Once you start putting in your time and once you start developing into the fighter you need to develop into, other people do the talking for you,” Browne told MMAWeekly.com.

“That’s one thing I guess in a sense I’m kind of prideful cause I don’t like to talk about myself. I want to put on such a good performance that other people talk for me and that my reputation is built on what I did and not what I said.”

Browne isn’t a big believer in calling out other fighters or demanding any kind of match-up from UFC officials. He knows that if he goes out and competes and continues on his current winning streak, he will be placed into the biggest fights because he earned it, not because he talked about it.

“You know Joe Silva and Dana White, the reason the UFC’s where it’s at is because of those guys and the matches they’ve made in the past. I put my trust in them, that’s kind of something you do when you sign up with the UFC, and it’s worked for me,” said Browne.

“They’ve put me in a position to succeed and I’ve just taken advantage of the time that they’ve given me.”

With his first main event fight on the horizon, Browne’s status as the quiet contender may soon fade away because all eyes will be on him this Friday when he faces Silva in Minnesota.

If Browne wins again that will put his current undefeated streak in the UFC at five wins, and it will be hard to deny him being placed into contender status. Everyone might be talking about that come Saturday morning but Travis Browne won’t be one of them.

He’ll just be awaiting the call from UFC matchmaker Joe Silva like an assassin getting his next job assignment, where he will once again quietly creep up on the competition.

“I don’t mind flying under the radar. I let my performances speak for themselves and that’s something that I’m going to do whether I’m a champion, whether I’m not a champion, or where I’m at in the division,” Browne stated.

“I want to be as good as I can be for every fight I get and eventually my title shot will come.”

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