UFC frees up roster spot with seven-year late release of Travis Browne

Do you remember Travis Browne? Well, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) apparently did not until today (Tues., July 2, 2024).

MMA Fighting has confirmed that the former Heavyweight Top 10 contender, Browne (9-8-1 in UFC, 18-7-1 overall), has been released from his UFC contract. The news comes seven years after Browne’s last fight, a fourth consecutive loss that came via a second round Aleksei Oleinik rear-naked choke. Browne has shown no indication of returning since the defeat, but never formally notified the promotion of a retirement. Browne’s last win was a third round technical knockout of Matt Mitrione in January 2016.

Slipping into the shadows of mixed martial arts (MMA) in the past decade, he’s been seen on occasion alongside his wife, former UFC Bantamweight champion, Ronda Rousey.

The 41-year-old “Hapa” entered the Octagon with plenty of fanfare as an undefeated 9-0 prospect in 2010. Browne went 13-0-1 before taking his first loss, a first round technical knockout opposite Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva. He tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in the October 2012 clash.

Although Browne’s UFC run ended unceremoniously, he put some notable names on his resume with impressive wins over the likes of Alistair Overeem, Josh Barnett, Stefan Struve, Brendan Schaub, and the aforementioned Mitrione.