UFC 188: VELASQUEZ VS. WERDUM Date: June 13, 2015 Location: Mexico City, Mexico Venue: Arena Ciudad de Mexico Broadcast: PPV UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez Cain Velasquez (13-1) rebounded from his first career loss to Junior dos Santos at UFC on FOX 1 by registering a first-round TKO of Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva at UFC 146 and he hasn’t looked back since. The 31-year-old Mexican-American then destroyed dos Santos in winning their rematch at UFC 155 via unanimous decision to reclaim the UFC heavyweight title, and he defended the title again with another TKO over Silva and a TKO over JDS in their trilogy. Velasquez is a fantastic fighter with tremendous cardio, wrestling, and knockout power, and overall he’s arguably the most well-rounded athlete in the entire sport today. He has been out since UFC 166 with a shoulder injury so it will be nearly two years off when he steps in the cage to fight Werdum for the title, and ring rust could very well play a factor. UFC Heavyweight Contender Fabricio Werdum Fabricio Werdum (19-5-1) is probably best known as the man who ended a 28-fight unbeaten streak by MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko, but he has seen mixed results since that career-defining submission that capped off their headlining Strikeforce event in June of 2010. Werdum’s foray into the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix nearly a year later met a quick end at the hands of Alistair Overeem via unanimous decision in the quarterfinals, but he bounced back when he returned to the UFC, brutally defeating Roy Nelson in a one-sided decision at UFC 143 and then scoring a TKO victory against Mike Russow at UFC 147. Werdum then took the time to coach opposite of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira on The Ultimate Fighter Brazil 2, which culminated in Werdum becoming the second man to ever submit “Big Nog,” when he won by armbar at UFC on FUEL TV 10 in June of 2013. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and ADCC grappling champion decided to wait for his heavyweight title shot after that win, but an injury to Cain Velasquez has led to a title elimination fight between Travis Browne and Werdum defeated him in an upset via decision. He was slated to face Velasquez again but an injury delayed the bout and he instead defeated Mark Hunt via TKO at UFC 180 to win the interim title. Now he’ll finally take on rival Velasquez at UFC 188, and it should be an epic heavyweight fight when it goes down. Opening UFC 188 Analysis: MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas made Velasquez a -475 favorite (bet $475 to win $100) while Werdum opened as a +355 underdog (bet $100 to win $355) at Several Bookmakers. This is a tremendous title fight between two of the finest heavyweights in the world and it should be a huge event in Mexico when it goes down. Obviously the champion Velasquez, with his mix of wrestling and striking acumen, is a big favorite here, but the interim champion Werdum’s striking has improved tremendously in recent years and he’s always had tremendous grappling, so he can’t totally be counted out in this matchup, especially coming off of his devastating victory for Mark Hunt. With Velasquez’ long layoff, it’s possible Werdum could be catching the champ at a good time, and we’ll find out this June exactly how the layoff has affected him.
