Browne taking on Overeem in UFC co-main event

While Alistair Overeem was fighting the likes of Shogun Rua, Chuck Liddell and Vitor Belfort in Japan, Travis Browne was training dogs in California.

On Saturday night at the TD Garden in Boston, the two will fight in the co-main event of the UFC’s debut event on the new Fox Sports 1 channel that hits the airwaves that same day.

Fox Sports 1 reached a deal this week allowing people with Oceanic Time Warner (Ch. 214), DIRECTV (Ch. 219) and DISH Network (Ch. 150) to view the event.

The channel was already set to be available to Hawaiian Telcom viewers (Ch. 75).

Browne, who has ripped through the heavyweight division since making his UFC debut in 2010, is 5-1-1 in the UFC, scoring four of those victories by first-round stoppage.

Ten of Overeem’s past 12 fights haven’t made it out of the first round, making it unlikely this fight goes the full 15 minutes.

"(He’s) a unique guy that brings a certain set of skills with him and that’s being a big, bad guy," Browne said over the phone Wednesday. "That’s why this is a fight I want."

Browne, who was born at Kapiolani Medical Center, lists Oahu as his hometown but moved to California at the age of 10 and now trains with Greg Jackson in Albuquerque, N.M.

Browne worked as a dog trainer when he volunteered to serve as a sparing partner for a friend who competed in MMA.

At 6 feet 7, Browne had experimented with jiu-jitsu and decided he had the size and athleticism to give the sport a try.

Just 16 months after his professional debut, Browne found himself in the UFC and has quickly risen up the rankings, earning the co-main event slot on Saturday.

"I knew when we were getting into this sport that everything was going to happen fast," Browne, 31, said. "I had the size, I had the athletic ability, and now

I have the work ethic so we knew this was going to happen fast and we’ve prepared for it."

Browne’s only loss came to Antonio Silva last October, when he tore his hamstring during the fight.

A victory over Overeem would leapfrog Browne, who is currently eighth in the UFC’s heavyweight rankings, into the top five. With champion Cain Velasquez fighting Junior dos Santos and No 2-ranked heavyweight Daniel Cormier rumored to be dropping down to light heavyweight, a win could put Browne into the conversation for a world title shot.

"We’re here to make a statement," Browne said.

In a preliminary bout shown on Fox Sports 1, Waianae’s Max Holloway (7-2) will fight Conor McGregor (13-2) at 145 pounds.

Holloway suffered his second loss in five UFC fights the last time out, dropping a controversial split decision to Dennis Bermudez in May.

"He’s got a lot of hype and it would be good to get an exciting ‘W,’" Holloway said at Thursday’s press conference while sporting a Waianae hat. "It’s a great fight for me right now."