Browne: Arlovksi, my F@$%ing hero

Pre-fight trash talk has become a staple in mixed martial arts, but Travis Browne offered Andrei Arlovski pre-fight high praise. The pair are former training partners at Jackson/Wink MMA, friends, and Browne even cornered Arlovski vs. Anthony Johnson at World Series of Fighting 2 on March 23, 2013.

“I’ve shared blood, sweat and tears with that guy,” said Browne to Dave Doyle for MMAFighting.com, who cornered Arlovski in the March 2013 bout. “When he fought Anthony Johnson, in between rounds, I went over and picked his tooth up off the mat because he broke his jaw. you know what I mean? I was literally in his corner screaming for him. When you’re that close with somebody, you’re sharing a piece of that person. That’s him as a warrior.”

“He’s a warrior through and through, man. You should have seen his jaw in that fight. It was shoved back in the back of his throat. And he fought for two rounds like that, and won the last round. It’s like, holy s—, that guy’s a warrior. I saw him in the back afterwards, and I’m like ‘you’re my hero right now. You’re my f—— hero.’

“Whether you’re my friend or my enemy, I’m going out there to do my job. That’s something Andrei and I were talking about when he was living in my house. Before he signed with the UFC, I said, ‘we may as well make some money doing what we’re doing in the gym, you know?’ He said, ‘okay, only for the title or big money.’ I said, ‘either way, it doesn’t matter to me. we’re punching each other in the face anyway.’ So let’s go out there and put on a show.'”

Travis Browne fights Andrei Arlovski on the main card of UFC 187: Johnson vs. Cormier, on May 23, 2015, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, live on PPV.