MEXICO CITY – Fabricio Werdum’s improbable rise from an up-and-down light heavyweight to a dominant heavyweight champion culminated Saturday with an extraordinary victory over Cain Velasquez in their title unification bout in the main event of UFC 188.
Werdum’s striking overwhelmed Velasquez and forced the former champion to try to take him down. As a spent Velasquez shot for a takedown midway through the third round, Werdum caught him in a guillotine choke and quickly forced the tap.
Velasquez fought a strong first round, landing a series of right hands. But he was caught by the 7,500-foot altitude in Mexico City and was gasping for breath in the second round as Werdum was peppering him with combinations.
Werdum’s biggest weapon was his jab, which he landed consistently and halted Velasquez in his tracks. But he also mixed in a series of hard right hands that Velasquez was increasingly wary of as the fight wore on.
Werdum is a two-time jiu-jitsu world champion and Velasquez clearly wanted no part of him on the ground. That took away a large part of his offense, because his style is to batter an opponent, take him down, and then beat him up on the ground.
He took the Brazilian to the ground several times throughout the fight, but let Werdum up because he didn’t want to get caught in a submission.
After the second round, when a wheezing, gasping-for-air Velasquez returned to the corner, he was told to go for a takedown if Werdum continued to have the success on his feet.
As Velasquez shot for the double leg, Werdum simply wrapped his arm around Velasquez’s neck and caught him in the guillotine.
Velasquez quickly tapped and Werdum became the unlikely champion. Velasquez was a 4-1 favorite and had been regarded by many as one of the two greatest heavyweights ever, along with ex-PRIDE champion Fedor Emelianenko.
Werdum’s career turned around in 2010 when he submitted Emelianenko in a monumental upset, and it took a rocket launch upward on Saturday after his victory over Velasquez.
Werdum predicted before the fight that Velasquez would have difficulty with the thin air in Mexico City. Most scoffed at that, because Velasquez’s cardiovascular conditioning has been his greatest asset.
He clearly was correct, though, as it made a huge difference.
Werdum’s conditioning never betrayed him, and he said it was because he spent more than a month in Mexico training at altitude.
He won the interim title in November by stopping Mark Hunt in Mexico City, but he didn’t get a lot of respect outside his native Brazil as the champion because he hadn’t beaten Velasquez.
Velasquez hadn’t fought since UFC 166 on Oct. 19, 2013, because he was beset by a series of injuries.
He clearly wasn’t the same man Saturday, but a large part of that was the man he had in front of him.
Werdum has matured into an exceptionally well-rounded fighter who now has quality striking to go along with his world-class jiu-jitsu.
He showed all aspects of his game on Saturday and there was nothing fluky about his victory.
