Junie Browning: He's Got the Most Appropriate Nickname in All of MMA.

I was trying to think of a witty title for the article, but unfortunately, nothing was initially coming to me. Working in a joke about his antics seems old (already), speculating about whether he gets kicked off seems like it's going to be a weekly thing (for the record, I don't think he ever will, short of killing somebody).

And then it hit me - Setting up some anticipation for people with a title that would entice them to read because they're undoubtably wondering why I think he has the most appropriate nickname in all of MMA. (You're probably not wondering why I think that - I can be delusional sometimes.)

Regardless...


For those of you who don't know, Junie's nickname is "Lunatik". See? He's got the most appropriate nickname. Sure, there have been plenty of guys who had good nicknames, and a lot of those nicknames were good plays on words or somewhat descriptive, but think about it - Junie wears the Lunatik moniker like he was born with it.

For those of you wanting more Junie, feel free to check out Junie's new website here. It's still growning, but there is stuff to check out on there, including a link to websites that have published articles on Junie. I only mention that because FightTicker is one listed on there. I think as the season progresses, more things will get posted there.

For those of you wanting even more Junie, check out his Myspace page here.

But back to the point. Junie is a lunatic. Now that's not always a bad thing - if he could focus that lunacy in the cage, he could do some major damage. But until that happens, he'll just keep doing the damage outside the cage.

As everyone saw, Junie and Nelson got drunk, started the crap-talking and then Junie threw the glass at KK. Now, I agreed with Junie and most everybody else when they said they thought he was going to be kicked off. I would think that behavior like that, that could seriously injure somebody, would be more frowned on. But as everyone saw, it didn't stop there. Furniture got thrown in the pool, Junie got in everybody's faces....and then Junie got to stay on the show.

I was surprised about that, but only kind of. Let's look at what Junie did - first and foremost, he did injure someone else, but it appeared to be minor. Second, he did damage to the house (certainly not an unprecedented move). Third, he caused a bunch of a drama in the house (like we've never seen that before). I'm not trying to make light of KK's injury - that sucks, and Junie should have paid for it.

However, does it rise to the level of Jesse Taylor's drunken idiocy in public at the casino, and in the limo? Junie did injure someone, but I think Jesse put more people at risk, both physically and legally, because he did it in public and a lot more people would have had to pay if he would've faced charges. Does it rise to the level of Leben's idiocy when he was on the show and punched a hole in the door? Probably not, but I think that's only because he didn't injure himself, like Leben did. It's a close call, though.

But regardless of what you think about all that (and I know what many of you think because I've seen the comments), we're then faced with an unprecedented move. He jumps the cage and looks like he's going after Efrain, only to be stopped by Minotauro while Mir's coaches rush in to help restrain Junie. That was new. However dramatic it seemed though, it was just that - drama. Did Junie really want to fight Efrain at that moment - sure. If you don't believe me, check out his newest blog entry on UFC.com. But do I think there was ever any chance of Junie actually getting at Efrain - no. In addition to everyone in the cage that could've stopped him due to sheer mass of people, Nogueira had hold of him, and if Nogueira doesn't want to let go of you, you're not getting loose.

But if nothing else, Junie lived up to his nickname. Like Kenny Diamond (a KY MMA promoter) stated in a comment on Eliot Marshall's weekly blog entry on FightTicker.com (check that out here),

The Junie I know has always been very respectful and one hell of a fighter. He has always been cocky, so is his brother Rob, but it was usually in an entertainment type way.

I knew before the first episode aired that he would ham it up, but I have to say that I am shocked by how far it has went.

And that is what I've always heard about Junie as well - cocky, but not crazy.

But at least Junie appears to be able to look back on the situation with some sense. Check out his blog entry that I mentioned above - he at least acknowledges his behavior, even though I wonder if he'll be able to prevent it in the future. He knows what his triggers are, but he keeps pulling them.

I got hyped when I first saw Junie was on the show, and I was excited when he won his first fight, but admittedly, I have questioned my loyalty. After a friend of mine sent me a text after last night's episode that said "Junie is a douche" I wondered if I would think that about Junie if he weren't from Kentucky and didn't fight out of the same school as some other guys I know. Honestly, probably. But I'm nothing if not loyal and I'll rep Junie til the end. I don't condone his behavior but I still want to see him do well - and when he does well on the show (inside the cage, not out of it) I'll be there to man the bandwagon when people start jumping on. "Lunatik" or not, Junie is here to stay.

To sum it up, I'll leave you with this thought from Junie's most recent blog entry on UFC.com. I think the last sentence really hits home.

It’s funny, but I went on the forums after last week’s show, and I didn’t think that week’s episode was that bad – I thought it was sorta goofy – and the reaction was pretty crazy. This week, I don’t know what they’re gonna say. It doesn’t bother me though; as long as they’re talking. Love me or hate me, they’re saying my name.

Until next week...

-PreView