MEXICO CITY – When Cain Velasquez faltered, Fabricio Werdum picked up the pace.
Velasquez spent two weeks in Mexico's capital before his UFC 188 heavyweight title unification bout with Werdum, thinking it would be enough time to acclimate to the city's 7,389-foot altitude.
Werdum, who went into Saturday night's event at Arena Ciudad de Mexico as UFC interim heavyweight champion and came out the undisputed champ, had set up camp in the mountains near Toluca, Mexico, at 10,000-feet elevation, where he stayed for 40 days leading up to fight week.
The story of Werdum vs. Velasquez was in many ways the story of UFC 188 itself. From the opening bout of the night, when Gabriel Benitez and Clay Collard had a frantic first round and then noticeably tired before Benitez won a unanimous decision, it was clear the altitude was the evening's second-biggest storyline, after Werdum's title victory.
Those who were ready to compete in the thin air had a good night; those who didn't were in for a long evening.
"People think Denver [elevation, 5,130] is a tough place to fight," said White. "This is a tough place to fight."
Velasquez, who spent the bulk of his training camp in San Jose, Calif. (elevation: 82 feet), got off to a strong start in the opening round against Werdum, winning it with his relentless pressure game.
By the end of the round, though, Velasquez was sucking wind, and Werdum's conditioning began to pay off. Werdum turned the fight in his favor in the second round, picking apart the fading Velasquez with his jabs and getting the best of the firefight in the pocket. Velasquez barely survived round two, then lost his championship when a sloppy takedown attempt quickly turned into a guillotine choke by Werdum, a four-time World Jiu Jitsu Championships gold medalist.
After the bout, Velasquez, a man of few words, admitted he didn't spend enough time in the city leading up to the fight.
"Maybe that wasn't enough," Velasquez said. "Again, no excuses. Fabricio was the better guy tonight. He fought with great technique. Very relaxed."
White, for one, noticed the difference. Werdum seemed prepared. Velasquez didn't.
"Cain is well known for his cardio," White said. "That's like his thing. But you're gonna have rust. He still looked good. I mean, Jesus Christ. The guy was standing toe to toe for the first two rounds and they were just blasting each other. Then he started chopping Werdum's leg. Werdum did a really good job conserving his energy, not moving around too much, standing still. He ended up out-cardioing the cardio king."
Featherweight Yair Rodriguez, who had a star-turning performance in a wild brawl with Boston's Charles Rosa in a bout that earned Fight of the Night honors, vomited in the Octagon during his post-fight interview, and according to White, he wasn't the only one who had such issues.
"I think we broke the record for guys puking in the back," White said. "Like six guys threw up after their fights. This altitude kills you."
Up and down the card, the fighters found ways to adjust to the elevation. Of note, fighters from the American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Fla., fared well: Eddie Alvarez turned up the heat on a fading Gilbert Melendez to win their lightweight grudge match in the co-feature bout; Rosa kept up with Rodriguez and went toe-to-toe for 15 minutes before ending up on the wrong end of a split decision, but he still took home the $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus; and strawweight Tecia Torres stayed unbeaten with a one-sided win over Angela Hill.
"I felt it out there, for sure" Torres said. "It wasn't the best performance of my career, it was tough out there. But still, maybe because of the way we train, I know I had more gas in the tank than she did and it showed."
While this wasn't the easiest of nights for the fighters, White has made it clear that the UFC will return to Mexico City, one of the world's truly great fight towns. Attendance at the cavernous Arena Ciudad de Mexico was 21,036, and White claimed the gate broke the arena record, although the money figure was not released. The fans respectfully applauded Werdum's victory over Velasquez and were quick to side with fighters who put in strong performances, regardless of nationality.
"It was an educated crowd," White said. "You know how happy that makes me to be in Mexico City, Mexico, and when a guy steps over and gets side control, they cheer? And when they were booing, they deserved to boo. I didn't disagree with one [expletive] boo that happened tonight. ... It was a very educated crowd, and a huge moment for us."
With that in mind, White's message to fighters on future Mexico City cards, is, essentially, to deal with it.
"You better prepare when you come into this town because this is no [expletive] joke," said White. "This is a hard place to fight."
Follow Dave Doyle on Twitter: @DaveDoyleMMA
