Travis Browne Explains His Departure From Jackson’s MMA – EXCLUSIVE

If you missed the latest edition of BJPENN.com Radio, check it out here.

One of the highlights of the show was the conversation with UFC heavyweight Travis ‘Hapa’ Browne. The interview covered a lot of topics including Browne’s new training camp, his loss to Fabricio Werdum, and his upcoming fight with Brendan Shaub at UFC 181.

Browne shocked a lot of people when he decided to change things up and switch gyms for his upcoming training camp. Instead of sticking with Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn in Albuquerque, he’s decided to take his talents to California. Browne will be training at Glendale Fighting Club, known for being the home of UFC womens bantamweight champion, Ronda Rousey.

Browne had a lot to say on the move and his decision.

“You know, just gearing up for another camp. I’m switching it up a little bit. For the last three years I’ve been at Jackson’s [Greg Jackson] and, you know, I think I need to shake it up a little bit and I talked to coach Jackson and Wink [Mike Winkeljohn] and I was working with Edmond [Edmond Tarverdyan] since my hand’s been healed. Edmond, he’s over at GFC [Glendale Fighting Club], Ronda Rousey’s head coach, and I’ve just been learning man. Learned a lot over the last two months. The scary part is that I’ve been learning so much, so I decided to do my camp there. It’s not going to be like a normal camp, that I’m used to, it’s going to be a camp where everything, everybody, is there just for me. So, you know, it’s time to step it up and invest in myself and I think that’s the best way to do it right now.”

There are plenty of well known fighters at Jackson’s for Browne to train with, so the question arises, who will he train with at GFC?

“There’s an Olympic boxer that’s there. So he’s going to give me some good looks as far as boxing, with hand speed and all that kind of good stuff. Like I said, it’s not about who’s at the gym. We’re doing this a little bit different. We’re going to bring guys in that I need, at any given time. They’ll be living with me, they’ll be training with me. The difference is that they won’t have fights coming up. So they will be there just for me. So, we’re going to bring in big guys, 6’4-270 [lbs.], 6’5-250, we’re going to being them in just to push me. There’s a little bit different philosophy that goes into it, so, I’m really looking forward to it and I’m excited for it.”

Browne wanted to be clear that he doesn’t see this as a complete departure from the gym he’s been apart of for the last three years.

“Talking with Jackson/Wink, I told them, hey it’s not like I’m just trying to cut ties with you guys and just be done. I have a family there. Jackson/Wink’s I consider a family and if any of those guy’s need me I’ll be there to step up and help out with anybody’s camp. I’ll definitely still train there. From what I’ve been told by Jackson/Wink, there’s still an open door there. At this point in my career, I have to shake it up, I have to make that change that I think I need.”

“If you think about all the talent that we have at Jackson’s, guys like Andrei Arlovsky, guys like Jon Jones—[they] were like the bigger guys that I could work with. But the thing is that over my last two camps now, neither of them have been there. You see what I mean? So we talked about all these sparring partners and all this talent and stuff like that, but at the end of the day I can’t spar with guys like Carlos Condit or Diego Sanchez or Clay Guida and stuff like that. Don’t get me wrong there’s a great talent pool there for heavyweights but that’s my point is that I can now bring guys in and have them there just for me. Now that they don’t have their own fights, where maybe I get one round fresh from these guys, now I get these guys here just for me. So now they’re switching off, we’re doing 5-6 rounds and now I have a fresh guy every single round. Now I’m working with Olympic level boxers, on my hands and stuff like that. I’m getting MMA training with some of the same group that I was before, just in a different gym. So, it’s one of those things that I still feel a part of Jackson’s. What Jackson explained to me was that he wants the best for me and for right now I think we need to take this next level and this is what we’re trying to do. And let me tell you man, Edmond, he’s amazing with the way that he teaches. What I’ve been learning and how we’ve been implementing it, has been nuts”

It seems like the move was drama free and Browne is simply looking for something new to get him back on track towards the title. Let’s see if it pays off on Dec. 6.

By Ryan Miller | Twitter