Fabricio Werdum was booked to face UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez in the headlining bout of UFC 180. That fight fell through when an injured knee forced Velasquez from the event. Mark Hunt stepped up on short notice to face Werdum. While the undisputed title was no longer on the line with Velasquez’s withdrawal, the UFC said the winner of the Werdum vs. Hunt fight would claim the interim heavyweight crown.
Werdum defeated Hunt via second-round TKO to claim the interim crown. Nearly seven months would pass before Werdum would get a chance to face Velasquez in a title unification bout. That bout headlined UFC 188 in Mexico City. The fight was the first for Velasquez in nearly 20 months.
Werdum bloodied Velasquez early. He then did an excellent job breaking Velasquez down as the fight progressed. An ill-advised takedown in the third round spelled the end of Velasquez’s title reign when Werdum clamped on a guillotine choke and forced the tap at the 2:13 mark of the third stanza.
Werdum lost the title in his next bout when Stipe Miocic knocked him out in the first round of the main event of UFC 198.
Werdum looks to get back in the title conversation when he faces Alexander Volkov in the main event of UFC Fight Night 127 from 02 Arena in London, England on Saturday, March 17.
Before that bout takes place, catch the full fight between Werdum and Velasquez:
UFC Fight Night 127 Fight Card:
Main Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Heavyweight Fabrício Werdum vs. Alexander Volkov
Light Heavyweight Jimi Manuwa vs. Jan Błachowicz
Featherweight Tom Duquesnoy vs. Terrion Ware
Welterweight Leon Edwards vs. Peter Sobotta
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Middleweight John Phillips vs. Charles Byrd
Welterweight Danny Roberts vs. Oliver Enkamp
Welterweight Jack Marshman vs. Elizeu Zaleski Dos Santos
Featherweight Danny Henry vs. Hakeem Dawodu
Light Heavyweight Paul Craig vs. Magomed Ankalaev
Lightweight Kajan Johnson vs. Stevie Ray
Heavyweight Mark Godbeer vs. Dmitriy Poberezhets
Lightweight Alex Reyes vs. Nasrat Haqparast
