Fighting out of Evansville, Indiana, out of a small gym, Zayne “The Train” Havener is a tough, well-rounded Middleweight. At just 25 years old, Zayne calls himself the “Dark horse of LFA’s Middleweight division”. Finally, he is getting his shot at the belt this Friday at LFA 244 vs. Jake “the Milkman” Woodley. A win could put him right at the doorstep of the UFC. He’s currently riding an impressive 5-fight win streak. Zayne will look to make it six in a row and get the Middleweight belt.
Havener’s career did not start off too hot, going 1-2 in his first three fights. From the beginning, though, you could tell exactly who Havener was. He’s a nonstop pressure fighter who gets in your face and doesn’t stop coming at you. He faced off with Brandon Holmes in both of their pro debuts. During that fight, the commentators even tried to nickname Zayne “The Business” because he got right to work as soon as the bell rang. However, as Zayne was landing a jab and a few other shots while moving forward, the heavy-handed Holmes was landing too. Holmes hurt Havener a bit on the feet. Then, the ref made the horrible decision to stop the fight extremely early. This, to anyone who chooses to watch his first fight, is a clear early stoppage. Especially for a guy like Zayne, who has become synonymous with being able to eat massive shots.
Havener would get in the win column before the year was over, securing a 2nd-round TKO to move to 1-1. He would lose again in his first and only CFFC fight; this time, it was a decision. After this loss, something would change in Havener. He has not lost since. Zayne would win back-to-back fights in a lower-level regional show. After that, he got the call from LFA, and his story really started to pick up.
Faced with fighting the super scary Travon Eller, who at the time was 3-0, Zayne came in as a +700 underdog. But he wouldn’t let that deter him. Both guys started fast, and the bell led to a car crash. But Eller would be the one to make Zayne start backing up. Zayne would try to look for a clinch to get control of the fight. Hopefully, he would take it to the ground, where he is probably strongest. The commentary notes that Zayne said his strongest attribute was his durability. This shows because he can eat massive shots from Eller early on. This is a positive, as Zayne can be in there with heavy hitters and bite down on the mouthpiece and walk through a lot of punches. However, it also can get him in trouble, as it did in the first fight.
Zayne weathered Eller’s storm and started looking for takedowns, using his fence wrestling to wear down his opponent. Despite getting reversed while going for a takedown, Zayne showed his calmness on the ground, hunting for submissions off his back. He would single out an arm. That led to an amazing triangle choke that forced the tap. This upset really started to catch the eye of regional MMA fans and the LFA brass.
In his 2nd LFA fight, Zayne would take on Eric Fimbers. Fimbers wasn’t as aggressive as Eller. However, this allowed Zayne to establish the center of the ring and start applying pressure. Zayne immediately showed his ability to take a punch to give one, working a solid jab and overhand that opened the grappling. Zayne does a great job using striking to get to his grappling, which is his strong suit. While his pure wrestling isn’t the best, he makes up for that in tricky grappling techniques. He can transition from a double leg to a standing back take. Zayne, going to his bread and butter to me, means railing the guy up on the fence and grinding him out until there is an opening. That opening is his back, then his neck, where he would get his 5-pro win via standing Rear Naked Choke.
In Zayne’s most recent fight, he took on the 6-1 Andrew Stewart in a match with heavy title implications. This was the Main Event for LFA 235, and it did deliver. Zayne would get right to work, taking the center and pumping a jab. In this fight, though, his striking seemed much improved as he mixed in far more hooks. He was also showing a few more wrinkles to his game with nice checks of leg kicks and a crushing knee to the body. Zayne was again employing his take-one-to-throw-one style, bloodied but still winning. He would pat his chin with just 20 seconds left in the first and would stare down Stewart, who looked dejected, as the round ended. This showed a bit of showmanship.
In the 2nd round, it was all Zayne, as he elevated Stewart for a takedown and worked to find a head-and-arm choke. Once he has tired you out on the feet by eating your shots and landing big ones of his own, the ground is the last place you want to be with Zayne. He will be actively looking for your neck.
Zayne is a non-stop pressure fighter who trusts in his gas tank and ability to eat shots. Since his first 3 fights, he is a whole new fighter. As I mentioned before, this brawling style could see him get into some murky waters. However, he is very confident in his abilities. Come Friday, Zayne could be the new Middleweight champion at LFA, and we all know what an LFA belt means: a ticket to the UFC. Make sure you’re tuned in on Vice TV or YouTube if you’re outside of the US to watch Zayne Havener brawl for the belt!
