Browne gets UFC No. 1 contender fight
Hawaii’s Travis Browne will fight Fabricio Werdum at a UFC on FOX event April 19 in Orlando, Fla., with the winner likely to earn a UFC heavyweight title shot against current champion Cain Velasquez.
The UFC announced the fight Monday. It will be Browne’s first since stopping Josh Barnett by TKO (strikes) in the first round on Dec. 28 at UFC 168.
Browne (16-1-1, 7-1-1 UFC) won all three of his fights in 2013 by first-round stoppage.
Werdum (17-5-1, 5-2 UFC) was supposed to face Velasquez in a title fight but the champion was forced to withdraw from the bout with a shoulder injury.
The UFC’s next card, which takes place Wednesday in London, features Kailua’s Brad Tavares (11-1, 6-1 UFC) facing Lorenz Larkin (14-1, 1-1 UFC) in a middleweight bout. Waipahu’s Louis Smolka (8-0) will make his UFC debut at 125 pounds against Alptekin Ozkilic (9-1, 1-0 UFC).
Hawaii softball team to get title rings
Members of the 2013 Hawaii softball team will receive their Big West Conference championship rings in a ceremony at halftime of the Rainbow Warriors basketball game on Saturday at the Stan Sheriff Center. Former Rainbow Wahine standout Kelly Elms will also be honored as a finalist for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award.
The Rainbow Wahine went 45-13 last spring, including 20-4 in Big West play to capture the conference title. UH earned the Big West’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament and advanced to the Seattle regional. The rings commemorating the program’s second Big West and sixth conference title overall were provided by Na Wahine Softball Booster Club.
After the season, Elms became the first UH student-athlete to be named a finalist for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award. She was among nine finalists (three from Division I) out of 455 nominations for the award that recognizes accomplishments in athletics, academics and community service.
Tip-off for the UH basketball team’s Big West game against UC Riverside is set for 7 p.m. Saturday.
Bailey’s 3-pointer lifts Chaminade
Lee Bailey hit a 3-pointer with five seconds left in overtime to lift Chaminade to a 105-102 men’s basketball victory over Brigham Young-Hawaii on Tuesday night at Cannon Activities Center.
Bailey’s two free throws had tied the game with with 44 seconds to go. Kuany Kuany’s defensive rebound off a Pablo Coro miss for BYUH set up the winning basket. Bailey finished with 32 points.
» Lilia Maio scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to help the Chaminade women’s basketball team beat Brigham Young-Hawaii 72-68 in Laie.
Kennedi Akana scored 17 points and Glacen Florita had 13 points and seven assists for the Silverswords (2-11, 2-5). Talyn Bevell scored 19 points off the bench for the winless Seasiders (0-12, 0-7).
