In his first fight since winning the UFC interim heavyweight title last November, Fabricio Werdum made that title undisputed Saturday night at the Arena Ciudad de Mexico in Mexico City, submitting and dethroning Cain Velasquez in the third round of the UFC 188 main event.
“I had a good strategy and I had a big dream,” Werdum, who defeated Mark Hunt for the interim title in the same venue at UFC 180, said. “I got it today.”
“Sorry to everyone here,” Velasquez, a two-time champion who was making his first start since October 2013, said. “It’s more motivation to come back and win the belt again.”
As for the high altitude of Mexico City that Werdum spent over a month in, Velasquez said, “Two weeks I was out here training; I guess it wasn’t enough.”
A favorite in the building last November when he fought Hunt instead of Velasquez when the San Jose resident was injured, Werdum found out quickly that this time around, the crowd clearly belonged to the first major combat sports heavyweight champion of Mexican descent.
But the seven months of waiting to fight were unleashed as soon as referee Herb Dean waved the two fighters into battle, each man getting in hard shots before Velasquez bulled Werdum against the fence.
In the midst of the close quarters scrapping, Velasquez emerged with a cut over his left eye. Moments later, Velasquez scored his first takedown, but soon enough the two were back to their feet and exchanging. Midway through the round, Werdum landed his own takedown, but Velasquez bounced back up and pinned the Brazilian to the fence. After a brief spell there, the two separated and began throwing punches once more, Werdum holding the edge.
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