UFC showcases 3 Hawaii fighters

With no current plans for a UFC Hawaii event, UFC 203 will have to suffice.

Saturday’s event in Cleveland features three fighters from Hawaii, including Kailua native Travis Browne (18-4-1, 9-4-1 UFC), who will fight former heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum (20-6-1, 11-4) in the co-main event on pay-per-view.

Middleweight Brad Tavares (13-4, 8-4), who was born and raised in Hilo, returns from a 16-month layoff to face Caio Magalhaes (9-2, 4-2) in a bout on Fox Sports 1.

Makaha’s Yancy Medeiros (12-4, 3-4), who recently moved to Aiea, will make his welterweight debut against Sean Spencer (12-5, 3-4) on UFC Fight Pass.

Browne seeks payback

Two years ago, the UFC was already making plans for a Hawaii tour with Travis Browne.

Similar to what it did prior to B.J. Penn’s second fight with Georges St-Pierre, when the two came to Hawaii for a day-long media blitz island-wide, Browne was set to contend for the heavyweight title against then-champion Cain Velasquez.

The only problem was, he had a fight with Werdum first.

A heavy favorite to notch his fourth straight win and then fight for the belt, Browne lost a five-round unanimous decision to Werdum in April 2014, crushing his hopes for a title shot.

Saturday is a second chance to get back into the title picture against the guy who ruined his first one.

“Since then I’ve been kind of up and down,” Browne said Wednesday. “I’ve kind of grown up since the last time I fought Werdum where I’m not going to even worry about the belt. I think I let it get to me (last time) and it’s one of those things you have to control.”

Velasquez stopped Browne with seconds left in the first round of their fight at UFC 200 two months ago.

This is the quickest turnaround for a fight in Browne’s UFC career. He has flip-flopped wins and loses in each of his last five bouts, including the fight with Werdum.

“I got my ass whupped (in the last fight) and I couldn’t just live with that,” Browne said. “I didn’t feel like I put my best effort forward and it’s been eating at me, so I wanted to get back in there and erase that from my memory as quick as possible.”

Tavares makes return

While Browne only has to wait two months to avenge a loss, Brad Tavares has had to think about it for over a year.

It has been 16 months since Tavares was knocked out by Robert Whittaker in 44 seconds. It was his 12th UFC fight and left him with a nasty concussion that forced him to take a break from competition.

“I wanted to make sure to give my brain a chance to heal,” Tavares said. “With those types of injuries (concussions), you never really know what’s going on in there. You injure a bone or take an X-ray and the doctors have these time lines, but there’s really nothing for concussions.”

A fighter’s mentality is to get back in the cage regardless of health. Tavares, 28, is a veteran of the sport and has seen first-hand some of the ill effects fighters have had from returning from a head injury too early.

“Don’t get me wrong, losing leaves a bitter taste and I wanted to get back in there, but I’ve seen it all,” Tavares said. “You look at a guy like Chuck Liddell, for instance. He had an amazing chin for all of his career and toward the end he got clipped and it seemed every fight after that, it didn’t take much to put him down. I’m 28 and I know I can’t do this forever, so I have to take care of my body as best I can for as long as I can.”

Tavares hoped to return in the summer but had reliable information that a potential UFC event in Hawaii was in the works.

“I was on a long layoff already, so I wanted to see if (the Hawaii event) happened,” Tavares said. “If I got injured fighting a month before it and couldn’t be on that card it would be a tragedy to me. When I got confirmation it wasn’t happening I took a fight and got injured and one thing led to another.”

Medeiros fights at 170

Somehow, the one weight weight class Yancy Medeiros hasn’t fought at is the one where he feels most comfortable.

After competing at 205 and 185 pounds early in his career, Medeiros has been a lightweight since he signed with the UFC.

Saturday’s bout against Sean Spencer will be at 170 pounds.

“I walk around at about 190 for the most part, so cutting 35 pounds was too much for me,” Medeiros said. “I feel great now and I’m not dying the week leading up to the fight.”

Medeiros earned a “Fight of the Night” bonus his last time out, withstanding 117 significant strikes and multiple knockdowns to go the distance with Francisco Trinaldo.

He’s also earned a “Performance of the Night” bonus in two of his three UFC wins.

“I know I’m a well-rounded fighter, but I haven’t been utilizing that and I think the (weight) cut has played a big factor,” Medeiros said. “I’ve stressed my body and stressed my mind out and hopefully now I don’t have that and can utilize my skills like I know how.”

UFC Hawaii still a dream

The UFC has brought a lot of Hawaii’s top fighters together over the years.

All three competing at UFC 203 agreed there’s a special bond they share when fighting at the same event.

“Being from Hawaii and coming out to these different places to fight, we all kind of understand where we’re coming from,” Browne said. “I’ve gotten to know Brad and Yancy and they’re great guys and we all know we’re not here to hang out and have a good time. We’re here to put on a good fight, represent and take over.”

An event in Hawaii has yet to materialize after a few close calls. Tavares has had his dreams of fighting in Hawaii dashed multiple times, but says at some point, if they keep winning, the UFC can’t stay away.

“It’s inevitable it has to happen,” Tavares said. “With B.J. (Penn) coming back and all of the Hawaii guys doing as well as they are and with so many of us here now, it has to happen.”