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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
"I honestly think that Alistair [Overeem] fight changed him; it completely changed him into a different person. He talked to me that night after the fight and said that he had never felt so close to death and that the shots he took to the body were unbelievable. After that fight, he is a completely different person now. He is more motivated. I don't know if that showed him that he really belongs in the upper echelon of the [heavyweight] division or that he should be the champion, but he is a different guy. I was watching some of the footage from when we went to film him for 'Road to the Octagon' and he is a completely different person. He is talking about knocking people out and finishing everybody. He is just meaner and nastier."
-Dana White talks about the change in Travis Browne out of last August's bout with Alistair Overeem during a pre-fight media scrum for UFC on Fox 11 (transcribed by BloodyElbow.com).
Penick's Analysis: I think surviving such a bad spot and coming back to win as violently and spectacularly as Browne did in the Overeem fight was absolutely huge for his confidence. That he followed up with a KO win over Josh Barnett can only put that through the roof. He's entering Saturday's Fox event with the knowledge that he belongs here, he belongs in this spot, and with a win he'll belong in a UFC Heavyweight Championship fight. Confidence is one thing, but the knowledge that you unquestionably can compete at that level is another thing entirely. Browne enters with all the momentum, and it will be up to Werdum to hold his spot against that.
[Dana White art by Travis Beaven (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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