UFC 168 Adds Heavyweight Tilt: Travis Browne Vs. Josh Barnett
The Ultimate Fighting Championship just beefed up an already strong fight card for the end of the year’s UFC 168. Veteran heavyweight Josh “the Warmaster” Barnett will take on well-rounded striker Travis Brown in an event already stacked with two championship rematches. Former champ Anderson Silva challenges Chris Weidman for the middleweight strap and former champ Miesha Tate will lock horns with “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey in a women’s bantamweight showdown.
It all goes down December 28 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Barnett (33-6), owing 60 percent of his wins to his dangerous submission game, will head into the bout coming off a TKO victory over Frank Mir at last month’s UFC 164. The fight with Browne will be only his second in the Octagon since his return to the UFC after competing mostly in Pride and Strikeforce for the past decade. He called his return to the Octagon “a return to a conquered kingdom,” and he seeks to “once and finally put the Octagon under the reign of my iron fists.”
Browne, on the other hand, has finished 11 of his 15 career wins by knockout or TKO. The one blemish on his record came courtesy of a TKO stoppage by Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva last October. Since then, Browne has bounced back with impressive, back-to-back KO wins over Gabriel Gonzaga and Alistair Overeem.
Both fighters rank among the top 10 heavyweights in the world, according to the September 16 release by USA TODAY Sports & MMAjunkie.com.
Neither fighter, both active on Twitter, has mentioned the fight since its announcement yesterday. While Browne does his talking with his fists, fans can expect the brash and outspoken Barnett to stir up a war of words as this event draws closer.
