Last night in Mexico City, interim UFC Heavyweight Champion Fabricio Werdum united the two heavyweight belts when he submitted champion Cain Velasquez with a guillotine choke at at about the midway point of Round 3. Werdum had closed a big underdog in the bout at roughly (+350) as the lines favored Velasquez, who had been a dominant champion over the years.
This match was made for last November originally, and the lines were roughly the same for the first bout, with Velasquez a wide favorite. Had Velasquez been able to make his title defense back in November, it would have come after a layoff of just over a year, but he injured his bicep and he tacked on an additional six months to the layoff. His prior dominance and reputation as a gym rat had most people giving Velasquez the benefit of the doubt, as back in November and prior to the bout last night, the line did not close for Werdum as the fight approached.
However, Velasquez was not his usual self in this fight. He took the opening round as he set a high pace that saw him score in the clinch and get two takedowns. Werdum was impressive as he stayed calm and weathered the storm. We have gotten used to fights like the Junior Dos Santos series for Velasquez, where once he put it on you in an opening round you never recovered and Velasquez was off to a rout. In Round 2 however, Velasquez looked weary for one of the first times in his career, and Werdum was able to score with punches and knees. Velasquez appeared to be bothered by the cut on his face during the second round, and Werdum made him pay every time they got close. By the close of the round, Werdum appeared to have changed the momentum of the fight.
Coming out for the third, Werdum’s confidence was up and he continued to land huge knees on Velasquez that took the starch completely out of him. By the time Velasquez was looking to take it to the ground, Werdum was ready and waiting with a guillotine that had Velasquez tapping shortly after it was applied. Wedum was the fresher, stronger man and he finished the fight to send the message: There is a new champion in the UFC’s Heavyweight division.
