Why did Cain Velasquez stiff 'two-faced' Fabricio Werdum on a pre-UFC 188 handshake?

Cain Velasquez

Fabricio Werdum and Cain Velasquez will meet in the octagon on Saturday in the main event of UFC 188, but it appears that there are some interesting mind games taking place during fight week.

UFC 188 takes place Saturday at at Mexico City Arena in Mexico City. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FX and UFC Fight Pass.

Interim champion Werdum (19-5-1 MMA, 7-2 UFC) said recently that he feels “more Mexican” than the man who holds the official title, citing support from the local crowd and the fact that he’s been to Mexico more than 20 times. Velasquez, Werdum said on an episode of “UFC Embedded,” is “an American who thinks he’s Mexican.”

Apparently, those comments got to Velasquez (13-1 MMA, 11-1 UFC), who refused to shake Werdum’s hand at breakfast on Tuesday.

“Yesterday, I saw Cain Velasquez at breakfast,” Werdum told MMAjunkie. “I said, ‘Hi.’ I shake hands with Daniel Cormier, and Daniel Cormier was normal, no problem. But when I shake hands with Cain Velasquez, and he said, ‘No, no, no. I won’t shake your hand.’ I said, ‘Why?’ He said, ‘You talked about me, and I don’t like that.’ I said, ‘OK.’ I just said, ‘OK.’ That’s it. But he didn’t shake my hand.

“I don’t know. I never expected that. When I shake hands, I give the hand. He didn’t give the hand, but he leaned back, and he smiled a bit. He said, ‘No, no, no. I don’t want to shake your hand,’ but he did it in Spanish. … I said, ‘OK,’ no problem. I went and ate my breakfast. That’s it. No more.”

To Velasquez, the situation is simple.

If Werdum wants to be the guy who talks trash in the media, he needs to be that person, not someone else to his opponent’s face.

“The day before they’ll be talking bad about you and then the next day they try to be nice to you and be friends with you,” Velasquez told MMAjunkie. “If you’re going to be one way, be one way. Don’t be two faced. I don’t respect that.”

“People know what he said. So that’s fine. If you say that, stick with that and be that person. Don’t come the next day and be friends.”

Werdum says that he was just trying to do his job and promote the fight with a little friendly trash talk to drive interest.

“I just said that because Cain Velasquez was born in the U.S.A.,” Werdum said. “His parents are from Mexico. I just said that because I come to Mexico a lot of times, like maybe 20 times. I’ve stayed a long time for my fight. For the fight last time, I stayed two months here. I have a lot of friends here. I have a lot of fans, too. On social media, I receive a lot of messages from the guys. I just said it so the promotion for the fight is much better.

“No disrespect to Cain Velasquez. I like him. He’s a nice guy. I just act like a professional. I never said anything about him. I just said that like a promotion because I want people to watch this fight.”

Velasquez isn’t having it.

“To me it just seems two-faced,” Velasquez said. “If you’re going to be one person, be that person. Just stick to your guns. Don’t try to come the next day and be friends and all buddy. That doesn’t fly.”

For complete coverage of UFC 188, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.