Really? Cain is your most confident pick? I know Travis is not an elite HW yet but he has shown pieces of brilliance here and there. Cain might be declining after being out two years of being out. His knees aren't the same. BUT he still is top 3 HW of all time so I've not written him off (not even close). Care to explain?
For what it's worth, I actually think Northcutt is the 'L' word (rhymes with block
) for this weekend (
@edole ) but i forgot about him for a second. Regarding the Cain-Browne fight, though:
I dont think Browne is in the same league as Cain. Sure, Cain didn't look good last time out against Werdum but like you said, he was coming off a long layoff (and some people will argue he didnt train hard, high elevation factor) and Werdum is a hell of a fighter. i think its really silly to speculate that Cain is declining bc of one loss. If he comes out and looks like a shell of himself on Saturday then we can talk about decline going forward but one fight with a lot of variables isnt enough to make me panic about Cain as a fighter. In a similar situation, I remember many people being so low on JDS before his fight against Rothwell because of how he looked against Overeem, speculating that his chin was shot and he was a shell of himself even though he is probably the worst style match up for Rothwell in the HW division. I actually think Cain is a bad match up for Browne
One of Browne's advantages at HW is his athleticism/speed but I feel like that's going to be negated in this fight because he's fighting a guy who's faster and more technical than he is on the feet. Browne has never faced a wrestler of Cain's caliber but Cain has shown that he can completely negate good strikers through his wrestling and cage hugging. The size/length advantage is a bit worrisome, especially if Browne is throwing those straight punches down the middle that Werdum and Kongo has success with, but at the end of the day, Cain is gonna dictate where this fight takes place and he's going to get Browne to the floor. At that point, it's going to be Cain's world and Browne isn't going to have the luxury of Cain getting tired like he did in the Overeem fight
Two additional notes:
-Browne trains with Edmond (LOL) while Cain trains at AKA w/ Cormier and Luke
-Cain's back surgery a few months ago was to remove bone spurs. While
ALL surgeries are serious, its a far cry from what people think of when they hear someone is having back surgery.