Browning vs. Miller: Why?

The reasons for putting Junie Browning on a main card are numerous and unappealing, at least to me:

He’s a great personality.
He draws viewers.
He’s a pretty exciting fighter in the cage.
He gives a great promo interview.

All of that, in my mind, is overshadowed by a single factor: he’s not that good.

His bandwagon exploded after the Kaplan fight with people who he impressed with that armbar, as well as his crisp striking, but he should have beaten Kaplan in one round. We all know, from watching the fight (which I have saved on my laptop, since they sell the TUF Finales for a $1.99 on iTunes).

Joe Rogan was enamored with Junie’s striking, which has certainly come miles from his disappointing performance on the show, but one thing I kept coming back to in that fight, one area where he shouldn’t have had as much trouble as he did, in that Finale fight (especially training at Xtreme Couture), is in the clinch.

His submission game was good, quick and explosive, as demonstrated with the armbar. His ability to pass guard was solid (though not spectacular, it got the job done, so it’s hard to complain). His ability to control the pace on the feet and the mat, when he was in a control position, was good.

Still, Junie demonstrated what I thought was the biggest problem in his game on the show, as well as in that fight with Dave Kaplan: he’s got no heart.

Now, having heart is about pushing through the pain when you’re losing, but we can all agree that there was never really a moment where Junie was losing. So my judgement of his heart comes from the moments when he was winning, the moments when he simply couldn’t finish.

When you have a guy’s back with a minute to go in a round (which is a lot of time, believe it or not), you don’t throw on a choke attempt and then immediately go to sitting on the mat, throwing rabbit punches. That’s how you lose control (and, for those who don’t remember, Junie did lose the back after about fifteen seconds).

When you’re in control of a fight, work hard. It’s a matter of breaking your opponent, making him feel like he can’t win, like you’re in control and you’re going to make him pay. Whether that’s working submissions (working to isolate the neck and the arms on the back) or by keeping control of the position and putting some power into your punches (and it is possible to throw powerful punches off the back while maintaining good control of the position).

Skill can carry a fighter to the finish, sometimes. Strength can give a fighter the victory, often. But in those close fights, you want a guy with heart, and until Junie demonstrates that he can really crush an opponent with his pace and his ability to dominate at points in the fight when he’s in control, then he’s not going to have the same level of respect from me that someone like Efrain or Phillipe (or any of the guys I hold in high esteem in the sport) gets.

Now, the question of why he’s fighting Cole Miller is slightly more complicated. There are reasons for this two. Miller is a TUF veteran with a respectable record. He wins exciting and he loses exciting, there’s no doubt about that. This is Junie’s first real test at the lightweight level, against a UFC veteran (as opposed to another TUF competitor looking to make it big), and the UFC management wants to make it mean something. They want to lend credibility to Junie Browning if he wins, and they want it to be exciting if he loses.

In that respect, the matchup makes a lot of sense. As a fight, it should be interesting. I certainly think that Cole Miller is the deserved favorite, though that’s more because people want to see Junie lose than because they think Cole is the better fighter. When all of that’s said and done, I think it’s clear that Cole is the more experienced guy with a better skillset (though neither has much of a clinch game worth writing home about).

It’s going to be a fun fight, and hopefully I’ll be able to enjoy it as a fan of the sport, and not be so bored watching Junie Browning fail to control the pace the way that he should.