UFC Fight Night: Browne, Mitrione ready to start new year with bang

Seventeen days into 2016, Travis “Hapa” Browne and Matt “Meathead” Mitrione’s collision course will come to a head as the two heavy hitters look to leave behind forgettable 2015s at each other’s expense.

Both fought just once in 2015 and both lost in the first round of pivotal bouts.

So now, the Glendale Fighting Club’s Browne, the UFC’s sixth-ranked heavyweight, will toe the line with No. 14 Mitrione on Sunday night at Boston’s TD Garden as part of the main card of UFC Fight Night on Fox Sports 1 with the victor hopefully setting the tone for a successful year to come and the loser left in the wake.

“2016’s gonna be a great year,” Browne said. “I feel really good getting back in there.”

Browne (17-3-1, 8-3-1 in UFC) will be fighting for the third time since joining the Glendale Fighting Club when he takes on Mitrione (9-4), a rarity in the sport who has contested everyone of his bouts inside the UFC’s caged confines following a stint on “The Ultimate Fighter” after playing for four years in the NFL as a defensive lineman.

Across a combined 34 professional fights, Browne, 33, and Mitrione, 37, have combined for 21 knockout victories as the bout pits two of the more athletic heavyweights in the UFC.

“In any heavyweight fight, the thing to look for is the power aspect,” said the 6-foot-7-inch Browne, who is a former junior college basketball player. “Being a heavyweight, that’s what you’ve got to look for. That said, I don’t necessarily think there’s anything to be worried about. I’ve been in there with some heavy hitters.

“He brings a different aspect to the game being a southpaw, being maybe a little taller and a little faster than some of the guys. If anything with the heavyweights, it’s always about the power.”

Mitrione stands at 6-3 and is considered one of the fastest and quickest fighters in the division.

“He’s cut from a different cloth than the rest of the heavyweights,” said Mitrione, referencing Browne’s height, length, style and athleticism. “It should be fun.

“I think athletically we’re cut from the same cloth, but I won’t know just how athletic he is until I see him in the cage. But I don’t think anybody’s gonna out-athlete me.”

Browne is 1-1 since joining Edmond Tarverdyan at GFC, knocking out Brendan Schaub in December of 2014 before taking a first-round knockout loss in May to Andrei Arlovski, his friend and former training partner at Jackson-Wink MMA in New Mexico. The loss to Arlovski was an all-out slugfest that was voted the round of the year by many mixed martial arts outlets, but it was also the only fight of what proved to be a tumultuous year for Browne.

Following the loss, Browne was dismissed from UFC International Fight Week events in July when his ex-wife accused him of domestic abuse via social media. A third-party FBI investigator found “inconclusive evidence” that brought about Browne’s reinstatement. Months later, Browne made public his relationship with then-UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, who also trains at GFC. Rousey was dethroned by Holly Holm in December, with perceived distractions about her personal life and Tarverdyan’s training among a litany of criticisms in a seemingly unprecedented backlash of criticism from myriad mediums.

Browne’s looking to channel all that was into all that lies ahead, though.

“I’ve been using all that adversity in my life to focus on what I can control,” Browne said, “and that’s fighting.”

Riding arguably his greatest streak of success, Mitrione recorded consecutive first-round knockouts over Shawn Jordan, Derrick Lewis and Gabriel Gonzaga in 2014, but his only bout of 2015 was a submission loss in the opening round via guillotine choke against Ben Rothwell in June. Faring well against Rothwell, Mitrione changed levels and took an ill-advised shot and Rothwell cinched in the fight-ending choke. Since then, Mitrione has been at the ready to get back.

“I’m looking forward to [getting back in the cage],” said Mitrione, who was 3-0 in 2014 and had a fourth bout against Stefan Struve canceled the night of the fight when Struve fainted. “It’s like I’ve been on an extended vacation and I want to get back to work.”

Mitrione and Browne have three common opponents inside the UFC: both of them knocked out Gabriel Gonzaga in the first round, Mitrione lost via decision to Cheick Kongo, while Browne fought to a draw with him and Browne knocked out Brendan Schaub, who defeated Mitrione via first-round submission.

In the stand-up, Browne has a reach advantage and is the better kicker, while Mitrione could have an advantage with footwork as the southpaw moves fluidly from side to side and in and out. Though he hasn’t showcased it lately, Browne’s largest benefit may well be his ground game, as he owns a pair of submission wins and Mitrione’s been submitted twice – both of them coming in his last two losses to Rothwell and Schaub.

Most believe the bout, which has Browne has a slight favorite, has the potential to be a slugfest, though, with little chance at going the full three rounds.

“In my opinion, if heavyweights go the distance, something’s gone wrong,” Mitrione said. “But, I’ve gone the distance twice, so it happens.

“There’s a lot of different things that can happen. It all depends on how we’re gonna be dancing the dance. I can guarantee one thing, that I’ll be dancing my ass off.”

The card will be headlined by what is likely the biggest UFC men’s bantamweight championship in division history with titlist TJ Dillashaw (12-2) defending against Dominick Cruz (20-1), the former belt holder who vacated the strap due to injury.

The early prelims – five bouts – will begin at 3 p.m. on UFC Fight Pass, the organization’s streaming service, with the televised prelims scheduled for 5 p.m. on FS1. At 7, the main card will begin on FS1 with lightweights Ross Pearson (18-9) and Francisco Trinaldo (18-4) toeing the line ahead of the Browne-Mitrione matchup. Former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis (18-3) will face former Bellator champion Eddie Alvarez (26-4) in the co-main event.

So Sunday sits in front of Browne and Mitrione as both look to reclaim momentum and vault into the picture of the heavyweight elite.

“Any one fight can change it, depending on how convincingly you win it,” Mitrione said.

Judging solely on ranking, Browne could put himself back into the title picture with a win and likely into a pivotal matchup with a top contender, but none of that’s possible without a triumph come Sunday.

“I’m not looking past anything or forward to anything,” Browne said, “but Sunday.”

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Grant Gordon, grant.gordon@latimes.com

Twitter: @TCNGrantGordon