It has been more than six years since Fabricio Werdum parted ways with the UFC following a knockout loss to Junior dos Santos. At UFC 180, Werdum completed his resurrection and captured the interim heavyweight championship.
Things weren't looking great for Werdum early on. The Brazilian was knocked down by a Mark Hunt right hand in the opening round. Much more talented on the ground, Werdum also failed to capitalize on having Hunt in his full guard for nearly two minutes.
However, Vai Cavalo survived the first stanza and turned things around in a big way during the second round. Two minutes in, Werdum stunned Hunt with a flying knee and finished Super Samoan with follow-up punches.
And the Interim UFC heavyweight champion of the world...@FabricioWerdum!!!! #UFC180 pic.twitter.com/YFOL2Kuqot
— UFC (@ufc) November 16, 2014
Originally booked to challenge Cain Velasquez at UFC 180, Werdum is 5-0 since returning to the UFC roster in connection with the Strikeforce merger. Dating back to his loss to Dos Santos, Werdum has gone 8-1, with his lone loss coming in a matchup with Alistair Overeem.
Despite being 37 years old, Werdum is looking better than he ever has. It would seem likely that he'll now wait until Velasquez heals up and meet his fellow titleholder at some point in 2015.
Meanwhile, Hunt's bid to complete one of the most unlikely UFC title runs ever will have to wait. At 40 years old, Hunt will need to rebound quickly to capture UFC gold.
In September 2010, Hunt was submitted by Sean McCorkle in a loss that left him with six consecutive opening-round stoppage losses. At the time, the UFC was willing to buy out Hunt's existing Pride FC contract and allow him to leave the organization.
Hunt refused, though, and bounced back in amazing fashion. In his next seven appearances, Hunt was only beaten by former heavyweight champion Dos Santos. That strong run was enough to make Hunt the replacement Saturday for an injured Velasquez.
Hunt: “I got caught. … It was a good move. It was his spot anyway.” *chuckle*
— Marc Raimondi (@marc_raimondi) November 16, 2014
Even in the event that he never earns another UFC title shot, Hunt's career turnaround has been something to behold. He went from a one-dimensional kickboxer who couldn't cut it at the highest level to a fighter with a very respectable MMA career.
While Werdum and Hunt headlined the show, UFC 180 ended up having several other meaningful bouts. Here are the results from the UFC's inaugural trip to Mexico:
Main Card
- Fabricio Werdum def. Mark Hunt via second-round TKO
- Kelvin Gastelum def. Jake Ellenberger via first-round submission
- Ricardo Lamas def. Dennis Bermudez via first-round submission
- Augusto Montano def. Chris Heatherly via first-round TKO
- Hector Urbina def. Edgar Garcia via first-round submission
Prelims
- Yair Rodriguez def. Leonardo Morales via unanimous decision
- Alejandro Perez def. Jose Alberto Quinonez via unanimous decision
- Jessica Eye def. Leslie Smith via second-round TKO
- Gabriel Benitez def. Humberto Brown via third-round submission
- Enrique Briones def. Guido Canneti via second-round submission
- Marco Beltran def. Marlon Vera via unanimous decision
