UFC 187: Travis Browne faces old friend Andrei Arlovski in heavyweight slugfest

When Andrei Arlovski was preparing for his previous Ultimate Fighting Championship bout, he was doing so while residing in the welcoming confines of Travis Browne’s home.

When Arlovski will next take to the caged confines of the UFC’s octagon, he will do so staring directly across from Browne, as the friends and former training partners will square off Saturday at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Arena at UFC 187.

“Whether you’re my friend or my enemy, I’m going out there to do my job,” said Browne, who trains at the Glendale Fighting Club under Edmond Tarverdyan. “That’s one thing me and Andrei have even talked about when he was living with me.

“We punched each other in the face [in training] anyway, let’s put on a show. I look up to him as a friend and a fighter, but that’s not gonna stop me from doing my job.”

The Browne-Arlovski three-round heavyweight tilt will be the second fight of a five-bout main card beginning at 7 p.m. live on pay-per-view.

“He let me stay at his house,” Arlovski said. “We hung out together. And now we’re fighting each other.”

It’s a fight that will see two heavy hitters doing their best to vault themselves into title contention, as Browne (17-2-1, 8-2-1 in UFC) is ranked third in the division and Arlovski (23-10, 12-4 in UFC) is at No. 8. The tandem enters the bout with a combined 29 knockouts.

Though both combatants are quick to point out their focus is on Saturday, Browne and Arlovski don’t hesitate in speaking on their ultimate goal of a crack at the Ultimate Fighting Championship title (which will be decided June 13 when champion Cain Velasquez fights interim titlist Fabricio Werdum).

“I don’t think about a title fight right now,” Arlovski said. “I want to be champion again, but I’m focused on Travis right now.

“If I want to be a champion, I have to beat the best fighters and he’s No. 3 right now.”

Said Browne: “My goal is to fight for the title.”

Arlovski has reached the pinnacle of the heavyweight division. The 36-year-old Belarus native made his mixed-martial-arts debut in 1999 and won the UFC title in 2005. Having been absent from the organization since 2008, Arlovski returned in 2014 and has reasserted himself among the top fighters in the heavyweight division.

“His experience is gonna play a big role, I believe, in his game plan,” Browne, 32, said. “He’s a veteran of the sport and, in that sense, I’m still a young buck.”

Browne and Arlovski have three common opponents. Though the results are interesting, MMA math rarely adds up to an accurate prediction.

Arlovski is 2-0 since he returned to the UFC with a controversial split decision over Brendan Schaub in June of 2014 followed by a victory that truly announced his resurgence. Arlovski avenged a decision loss earlier in his career to Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva with a dynamic first-round knockout in September, when Browne and he were still training partners in New Mexico at Jackson-Wink MMA.

Arlovski also holds a decision win, though it came more than eight years ago, over Werdum.

Consequently, Browne’s two career losses have come against Werdum and Silva.

Alas, Browne’s last fight in December was a savage first-round technical knockout of Schaub, who many believe eked out a boring decision against Arlovski, though the judges’ cards told a different tale.

The win over Schaub was also Browne’s first under the tutelage of Tarverdyan. Thus, though Arlovski and Browne are still close in terms of friendship, being able to gauge each other’s game is likely a different story.

“He has a new boxing coach and a new camp,” Arlovski said. “I don’t know what he’s going to bring.”

Along with facing Arlovski, Browne will also be facing his former trainers and cornermen after years under the Greg Jackson-Mike Winkeljohn coaching umbrella. Browne doesn’t feel that will affect anything, though.

“I didn’t do anything shady, I didn’t disrespect anybody,” Browne said. “We’ve all left on good terms. I still love those guys, I still believe in what they’re doing. I just chose to do what’s right for me.”

The bout is part of a star-studded card that also features lightweight and flyweight bouts that will majorly impact the title picture as well as a co-main event of middleweight champion Chris Weidman defending his title against Vitor Belfort and a main event of Daniel Cormier facing Anthony Johnson for the vacant light heavyweight title. But the potential for fireworks from Brown and Arlovski is certain to draw its share of attention.

“They’re not lost [on the card],” Cormier said. “They help people tune in. They draw. People want to see what Travis can do after what he did to Schaub.”

And Browne has plans on following up his previous performance with one worthy of earning him a title shot, as he’s well aware that a run-of-the-mill win won’t always earn a shot.

“I think it depends on the performance,” Browne said. “It’s about your performance and how you dominate. It’s about how you put on a show and what you do in the cage. … If I come out there and knock him out in the first round, how do you say no to a title shot?

“I’m blessed with the style of fighting that is naturally exciting. Going out there and knocking out a guy, that’s what I do.”

As for Arlovski, he was once regarded as one of the most well-rounded fighters in the heavyweight division, though the biggest chink in his armor was his chin, evidenced by seven knockout losses.

Hence, his outlook may be as strategic as anything else.

“Definitely, it’s going to be a tough fight for me and I have to keep my hands up,” Arlovski said. “He’s tough, he’s no joke. It’s going to be a tough, tough fight.

“I just have to stick to my game plan and be smart. Like always.”

Like always for Browne, he will look to go to work doing what he does best, whether he’s facing a friend or not.

“Again, this is my job, I have no problem going in there and cracking him upside his head,” Browne said. “Doing what we do, we’re a different kind of people. Is it just another job? No, but it’s our job.”

And on Saturday night, Browne goes back to work with the same mindset that always accompanies his day at the office or night in the cage.

“I’m always confident in myself and this fight is no different,” he said. “There’s nothing that’s holding me back.”