There can be no denying Fabricio Werdum any longer. The interim heavyweight champion became the undisputed, full world champion with a third-round submission win over Cain Velasquez in the UFC 188 main event.
Werdum and Cain engaged in a fire fight from the opening horn, and it quickly turned into a war of attrition with both men landing and absorbing big punches.
In fact, Werdum continued his pattern of getting floored before scoring a big win. Just as he did before beating the likes of Fedor Emelianenko, Mark Hunt, and Roy Nelson, the Brazilian ate a big punch and was forced to take a seat in the opening round.
Werdum got back to his feet and proceeded to land big punches to the head of Velasquez. For his part, Velasquez scored two takedowns but almost immediately let the submission wizard back up to his feet.
By the end of the round, Velasquez and Werdum were both bloodied up.
At the start of the second round, Werdum and Cain wasted little time in trading strikes in the center of the Octagon once more. Before long, Werdum backed up Velasquez against the fence and hurt him badly with punches.
A big knee and an uppercut, both to the chin, landed for Werdum and wobbled Velasquez. Cain continued to land his own punches, but his legs looked to be stuck in mud as he got rocked over and over.
In the third, Velasquez once more committed to his wrestling and shot straight for a single leg takedown. He got it, defended a sweep and stuck top position.
Werdum hustled up to his feet and ate a high kick from Velasquez. The AKA fighter charged in but then ate another knee to the head.
Then, he changed levels, and shot in for a double leg takedown. Werdum, a Brazilian Jui-Jitsu specialist, did not fight the takedown at all, and instead chose to immediately set up a guilltine choke.
Werdum locked in Velasquez’s head in his right arm, wrapped his full guard and squeezed tight. Velasquez was forced to tap out at 2:14 of the third round, and Werdum became the all-time UFC/Pride/WEC heavweight leader for submission wins, with 9.
“I had a big dream,” Werdum said in his post-fight interview.
“I got it today.”
Velasquez’ dream of winning in Mexico was crushed once more. Afterwards, he apologized to his Mexican fans in attendance.
“I’m sorry that I couldn’t do it,” he said.
“Next time, we’re going to win.”
For his part, Werdum immediately expressed interest in a rematch. After three rounds like these, a rematch at some point would no doubt be an in-demand bout.
For now, however, Velasquez will simply have to wait and let it burn. Werdum, on the other hand, can celebrate a dramatic and successful climax to a long and winding MMA career.
