5 Reasons to Watch UFC 188: Velasquez vs. Werdum
When UFC 188 is finished Saturday, only one heavyweight champion will be left standing as Cain Velasquez returns to the Octagon after more than a year away from the sport when he faces interim titleholder Fabricio Werdum in the five-round main event from Mexico.
Velasquez has been hampered by injuries for the past year, but when he's healthy, the American Kickboxing Academy heavyweight has been a force of nature in all of his recent fights.
Werdum will certainly give Velasquez all he can handle with a wealth of experience at his disposal while facing some of the best fighters in the world to get to this title fight.
Also on the card, a long-standing grudge will be settled as Gilbert Melendez faces Eddie Alvarez in a lightweight matchup between two fighters who just don't like each other very much. Melendez and Alvarez have been linked together for a fight previously, but when it didn't come together, both fighters pointed fingers at the other as to why they never actually faced off.
The talking will be all done this weekend at UFC 188.
From the title fight to the co-main event on down the card, UFC 188 has a little bit of something for everybody, but here are five good reasons to make sure to tune in to watch the card from Mexico City on Saturday night.
The Baddest Man on the Planet Back in Action
Cain Velasquez (right) returning to action? Enough said.
Injuries have undoubtedly robbed UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez of some of his best years, but when he's actually competing inside the Octagon there may not be a better fighter on the planet.
Velasquez isn't the biggest fighter in the world and he's probably not the strongest either. But he makes up for that with amazing technique, tenacity, conditioning and an unrelenting pace that few can keep up with over five rounds.
Velasquez punishes his opponents into submission with a brutal amount of strikes being doled out, round after round. He has the highest striking rate in UFC heavyweight history, with over six strikes landed per minute, and he's currently tied with Andrei Arlovski for the most knockouts in heavyweight history as well with nine.
Velasquez mixes his wrestling-based style with a dirty boxing game that does maximum damage both on the feet and on the ground.
On top of that, Velasquez has only gone to the judges twice during his entire career, and he has eight first-round finishes as well. Velasquez might be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport, and he has another chance to prove it on Saturday night while also looking to break the record for the most title defenses in UFC heavyweight history with his third consecutive win while holding the belt.
Been Here, Done That
Fabricio Wedum (bottom) will certainly not fear a so-called 'unbeatable' opponent.
As unbeatable as Velasquez is made out to be, interim champion Fabricio Werdum has heard this story before.
In 2010, Werdum was coming off back-to-back victories when he was matched up with former PRIDE Fighting champion Fedor Emelianenko in Strikeforce. Emelianenko was viewed as the best fighter in the world at the time and virtually an unstoppable wrecking machine who had already dispatched of almost every other top heavyweight in the sport at the time.
Werdum walked into the fight as a heavy underdog in what was supposed to be just another smashing victory and name to add to Emelianenko's legendary resume.
But at just one minute into the first round, after landing on the ground with the heavy-handed Russian on top, Werdum locked on a triangle choke from the bottom. And unlike every other jiu-jitsu practitioner who had attempted something similar on Emelianenko before, Werdum was successful. Fedor tapped out at 1:09 into the first round and Werdum celebrated after knocking off arguably the greatest heavyweight MMA fighter of all time.
So as Werdum steps into the Octagon this weekend with another seemingly invincible champion like Velasquez, it's a bit of deja vu for the veteran fighter from Brazil. Werdum fears no man, and he's more than capable of pulling off a similar finish over Velasquez just like he did to Emelianenko almost exactly five years ago.
They Just Don't Like Each Other
What started out as a suggested co-promoted bout between then-champions Gilbert Melendez and Eddie Alvarez eventually spiraled into one of the nastiest rivalries the lightweight division has seen in recent years.
Melendez and Alvarez were both highly-rated fighters in promotions outside the UFC and while the idea was floated to match them up a few years ago, the fight never came together. Apparently neither of them forgot about it.
Alvarez has a long-standing grudge against Melendez because he believes the former Strikeforce champion talked about fighting him for years but ducked out of several opportunities to actually face him.
Melendez obviously disagrees and says that Alvarez is just jealous of the success he's had during his career, especially with the new contract he signed with the UFC in 2014, and he's been forced to eat a few sour grapes.
For all the bad blood these two share, Melendez and Alvarez are absolutely two of the best fighters in the world at 155 pounds, and this should be a knock down, drag out, crowd-pleasing co-main event. Whether this will settle the disdain shared between Melendez and Alvarez is still to be determined.
Ladies Kick Off the Main Card
Tecia Torres (left) will get a crack at Angela Hill to kick off the main card.
The UFC women's strawweight division will get the spotlight to help kick off the UFC 188 pay-per-view card as former "Ultimate Fighter" teammates Tecia Torres and Angela Hill face off on Saturday night.
Torres' nickname is "The Tiny Tornado," which fits her well considering this 5-foot-1 striking machine throws punches and kicks with incredible volume over the course of 15 minutes. She averaged over six strikes landed per minute in her UFC debut, with almost 50 percent accuracy.
Torres is already considered a top title contender with past wins in her career over Paige VanZant and Felice Herrig, so a win on Saturday night is crucial if she hopes to challenge for the belt at some point later this year or in early 2016.
Her opponent, Angela Hill, only has two professional fights on her record, but that doesn't come close to the amount of fights she's had as a kickboxer and Muay Thai stylist.
Hill is a sponge when it comes to her MMA knowledge base, as she showed in her lone UFC fight last December, and if she's added a few new weapons over the last six months, there's no telling how high the ceiling goes for this New York native.
Both of these fighters love to stand and trade, so this should be an excellent fight to kick off the main card and set the bar pretty high for what will happen in the four bouts that follow.
Next Great Flyweight Contender?
Intriguing prospect Henry Cejudo (right) gets a shot in the prelims airing on FX.
When Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo debuted in the UFC he was already recognized as one of the greatest wrestlers to ever compete in MMA, but he was also an interesting prospect with championship credentials.
Now two fights into his UFC career, Cejudo is 2-0 with his last victory coming over former title challenger Chris Cariaso.
This weekend at UFC 188, Cejudo will face veteran fighter Chico Camus in a showcase fight as the featured bout on the prelims airing live on FX. Cejudo is no longer a prospect at this point and instead looks like he might be a serious challenger to flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson in the future.
Cejudo has adapted his game to MMA flawlessly, but his wrestling is unmatched and serves as the ultimate equalizer in any fight. If Cejudo walks through Camus the same way he's walked through his first two opponents, look for the gold medalist to get a major jump in competition. But he still has to shine on Saturday night or all this hype just fades away.
