Answering the Junie Browning Problem…
By Curtis Clontz on Apr 02, 2009
Last night Junie’s post fight comments were not the most positive in the world. Although the night did go without incident, the Lunatic assumed his days in the UFC are over. Could it be that the UFC gave him an ultimatum? Did UFC just give him one shot? Something similar to a play in game in the NCAA tournament? Junie Browning was the worst cast member ever invited to join the guys in the TUF house. This is a true statement, but he is the reason many of us watched. If it hadn’t been for his antics and the continuous jokes being played, the season would have a bust (many feel it was anyway). If it had not been for those same antics would the Fight Night card have done so well? Probably but we will never truly know, but I do have a solution to the Junie Browning problem.
Last night Junie was out worked, out classed, and proved he does not have the talent to succeed in the UFC’s very tough155 pound lightweight division, but there is hope. I have a proposition for the UFC. I have the perfect plan for this young fighter!
In all other pro sports the athletes make transitions. They progress from high school, college, and then into the ranks of the pro, if they are lucky. The UFC has made it a point to keep the WEC as an honest fight organization for little guys. They make a point to market the WEC as anything but the minor leagues. UFC listen up, It is time to move forward and use the WEC for something other than a Faber or Brown marketing tool.
They should move Junie, along with other mid to bottom tier UFC guys in the 155 pound division to the WEC. Revamp the division. Create a tougher WEC 155 pound champ. Allow the young fighters to develop into the necessary athletes to be on the world’s best stage. Provide them the chance to lay it all on the line without repercussion of their job. So what if they lose 2 in a row, this is where they would grow. Let them be exciting. Let them work on their games and push forward until one day they got that call from Mr. UFC Dana White. This would not only increase the caliber of fights in the UFC, but the talent in the WEC.
Junie is just one example of someone that the fans would tune in to watch. In his case they would be rooting for his demise, but there are tons of others that need the same opportunity. People such as David Baron, Brian Cobb, and Josh Neer could flourish with the chance to grow as fighters. They could even create a new season or reality show based on the WEC. This would open several key doors that are currently closed. This is my solution to the Junie Browning problem…Ideas?
Filed Under: MMA
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145 division…
no junie is a good for me.
I stayed with the 155 division because on the WEC website there are actually fighters that are listed at 155.
…but there is no 155 division is there? i thought there wasn’t…weren’t they not having double division or something idk…
You very well may be right…That is kinda the reason I put revamp the division…just in case…If their division/ organization has 155 pound fighters….
I dunno…
the wec does have a 155 division. jaime varner is the champ. he and donald cerrone will rematch soon. i’m pretty sure the wec plans on keeping the lw division. they just got rid of the lhws,mw’s and ww’s and moved some of them to the ufc. i dont think junie could hack it there either. i think he is a choker(no pun intended). i think they will give him 1 more fight in the ufc, he will lose and then he’s gone. most likely off to strikeforce.
God, two writers that don’t know if the WEC has a 155 lb division…But the WEC has fighters listed so you stayed with it? Are you kidding me Brandt!? What is this?
They got 170s listed but I hope you know there is no welterweight division, or maybe you don’t know that.
Donald Cerrone
Richard Crunkilton
McCollough
Hicks
Lamas
Varner
are all in the top tier of the lightweights, keeping it exciting.
If you don’t know anything about the sport you blog about, at least show the readers the decency to go on wikipedia and pretend you know what you are talking about.
ryan, shut it.
I had to laugh at this one…yes, WEC has 155 and since there are a billion great 155ers out there, it would be a mistake to cut that division from the WEC. But we all make mistakes, no huge deal.
Garrett, how did you know his name was Ryan?
I just know. mistakes are there to be fixed. not cried about and harp on.
Great Comment! I love it. If nothing else it proves the article’s truth…If Garrett and I both “lapsed in memory” about the 155 pound WEC division, doesn’t that mean others will?
If the division was perfect and did not need tweaking, then we would have remembered how great the fights are, the top fighters, or even the champ… There is a reason they are in the WEC and not the UFC.
Revamp things!
This is a pretty ridiculous comment on two levels. The first is that the WEC division is where disappeared UFC fighters have gone and where the guys who are still working to bring their skillsets to a reasonable level fight.
Not to say that guys aren’t good, but they’re not “top tier.”
The top tier of a division is made up of the guys in the top five, or that are at least competitive with the top five. Put Varner, Cerrone, Hicks or any of the others in the WEC against a top five lightweight, and they’d be absolutely massacred.
Now, do I want Junie in the WEC?
No. I want Junie to disappear. He’s bad for the sport, and he’s not a good enough fighter to make his incredibly annoying attitude worthwhile. But that’s just my opinion, and it doesn’t hold much weight on what Dana actually does.
You should try that email again…Maybe he will listen…
Bullshit Stein…I’d love to see Varner v. Stevenson or Hicks v. Diaz, Cerrone v. Guida, McCollogh v. Florian
With BJ Penn’s lackadaisical attitude towards his own division, having been champ since January ’08 and only defending his belt once. Whereas, fighters like Silva and GSP have defended 3 times.
In Varner’s last two fights, he showed the stamina level of a champion, throwing everything he had at the iron chin of Hicks, and not stopping until Hicks finally dropped. Then he went on to fight Cerrone in a 5 round war of attrition that went on to a technical split decision due to an illegal knee to a downed opponent.
I can guarantee you that Varner v. Hicks was just as entertaining of a squash as Penn v. Stevenson, Varner v. Cerrone was more entertaining of a war than Penn v. Sherk, and Varner v. Cerrone II (their rematch because the fight ended early) is going to provide the viewers with much more of a fight than Penn v. Florian.
And maybe the writers should pay attention. Since dropping WW, LHW, and MW, WEC 39 had 2 LW bouts on the 4 bout main card. WEC 38 had a LW championship bout. And while the WEC still had those heavier classes, WEC 36 had a LW FOTY candidate bout.
With Kampmann’s besting of Condit, it is apparent that UFC WW’s were better than the WEC’s, and it was never even questionable that the MW’s and LHW’s were up there with the UFC’s caliber. Yet, there is a reason why the WEC still has a LW division. And I’m not afraid to say that when I want to see a LW bout, I’d rather see it in a WEC cage than a UFC octagon.
For a guy who claims to know what he’s talking about, you really have no clue.
If you really think that Varner is the same quality of fighter that B.J. is, then you should pass the joint over this way.
Varner has defended his title once more than B.J., but that’s beside the point, too.
The WEC 155 pound division is exciting. That doesn’t mean it’s good.
On some nights, King of the Cage is more exciting than the UFC. Does that mean I’d watch Bobby Hoffman over Nogueira? Of course not.
After I saw GSP decimate Penn, I’m not so sure I believe that.Penn looked lost in that fight, and is obviously not mentally or physically conditioned to go 5 rounds.
Anyways, I never listed Varner v. Penn in my list, but if the same Penn that showed up to fight GSP showed up to fight Varner, I’d bet on Jamie to prove just how good the WEC LW’s really are.
And if you try to say that GSP is just so much better than everybody else, than obviously Fitch, Hughes (back then), Serra, and Koscheck are all that much better than BJ because they didn’t get dominated by GSP the way Penn did.
Also, I’m sure Thiago Alves will put up a much better fight than Penn ever could have.
WEC is putting on its 40th show, and back when UFC was putting on its 40th show, they had about the same name recognition as the WEC does now. Because Zuffa owns both, while the WEC continues to have a LW division, I would never count them out against UFC LWs.
You really think that Varner is comparable to Georges St. Pierre? That just baffles me.
I’d love to see the UFC lightweight champ take on the WEC lightweight champ, but B.J. would be +800 going into that fight, easily, and there’s a reason for that. He’s a way better fighter.
It is obvious that I wasn’t comparing GSP to Varner and I was instead just remarking that a lot of fighters could have beat up BJ that night.
And the point of my original comments was the fact that the writers of this staff obviously know nothing other than UFC…If I wanted writers who didn’t know or care anything about the WEC, Strikeforce, or Affliction, I’d just go to UFC.com
And Josh, and some of the others on the site, I know you report on more than just the UFC, but Garrett and Curtis apparently don’t even know about the WEC.
They have three weight classes, I don’t think it would be to hard for bloggers/writers of an MMA site to remember which ones they are.