By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Travis Browne this week confirmed a rumored relationship with UFC Champ Ronda Rousey, and the heavyweight fighter is now also vehemently denying the domestic violence allegations levied against him this summer by his estranged wife, Jenna Webb.
During his appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani this week, Browne insisted that he never got physical with Webb, and defended the investigation from the UFC that received criticism from Webb after they claimed to find "no conclusive evidence."
"Have I ever gotten physical towards her? No, absolutely not," Browne said. "Like I said, there's circumstances surrounding all this. That's up to her and her family to deal with. I'm back to fighting. The results speak for themselves... I think people have the wrong idea about the investigation that the UFC put on. A lot of people feel like it was an investigation to clear me, which that is the farthest thing from the truth. The whole point of that investigation was to find the truth.
"I'm a lot of things. I can be an asshole. I can be mean," he continued. "But putting my hands on a woman is absolutely not in me. That goes against everything in my DNA as a human being. The general public may not have an understanding about me and what I do, how I feel about my children, how I feel about my family, how protective I am over my family and children. They just see a big guy in a cage that fights, that knocks people out or this and that.
"I've moving onward and upward. It was a bump in the road and it was a very unfortunate situation. The truth has come to light. In a sense, the truth will set you free. Even though it's in the court of public opinion, people are just headline hunting instead of educating themselves."
A potential problem for Browne here is that it's not an exoneration for the supposed "third-party investigation" to find inconclusive evidence. That's especially the case when Webb herself has lashed out against their findings, and said this summer that she may have to press charges after all.
"I told them the truth, I gave them photos, I gave them a dated and detailed journal, and how they came up with those results is beyond belief," Webb said in comments made to WomensMMA.com. "The investigator got this info and helped the UFC come to this conclusion. My family and I are totally baffled. It just shows what an abused person from a close family in Florida faces when they go up against an ex-FBI investigator, Campbell & Williams, and the UFC. They have more money than we do. They appear to be the winners. We believe that in the end truth prevails.
"At the present time, I feel that the truth hasn’t come out and I have no other option than to press charges with the same evidence that was provided, and we’ll let the state of California decide whether I suffered from domestic violence."
Penick's Analysis: I don't think the book can be closed on this situation despite Browne's insistence of innocence. Webb hasn't yet pressed charges, at least it hasn't come out that way yet, and it may be that she ultimately finds herself unable to get justice even if her allegations are, indeed, true. That seems to be the case in many domestic violence situations, and because of the UFC's investigation Browne can move forward claiming no wrong-doing. Unfortunately for Webb, if her allegations are the truth, it seems she's going to find no satisfaction in things as they stand.
