Cain Velasquez vs Fabricio Werdum Official For UFC 188

Just like that, the heavyweight division has a new lease on life…..

The UFC heavyweight division has been in quite a state of shambles in recent years; champ Cain Velasquez has spent the last 17 months on the DL with injuries, and in the meantime an interim title was created and won by Fabricio Werdum against Mark Hunt at UFC 180 in Mexico.

CV was meant to face Werdum at the same event, the promotion’s first trip to Mexico, but was yet again sidelined and replaced by the feel-good hero Hunt. “Vai Cavalo” saved the event in stunning fashion when he blasted “The Super Samoan” with a flying knee, setting the stage for a highly anticipated unification bout.

The inevitable has now been made official, as we learn that Cain Velasquez vs Fabricio Werdum will headline UFC 188 in June. The event will mark the second trip to Mexico in the promotion’s history, although an exact venue is yet to be determined. Judging by the success of UFC 180, it will need to be a pretty large arena or stadium.

Werdum also beat Travis Browne, Roy Nelson and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira en-route to his first shot at gold, but he’ll likely be on the sore side of the book maker’s odds against the dominant Mexican champion on home soil. It will be interesting to see if cage rust impacts the champ’s return.

This will be the first fight for Velasquez in five years that hasn’t featured either Junior Dos Santos or Antonio Silva. Bigfoot” was starched at UFC Fight Night 61 by Frank Mir last Night (Sunday February 22nd, 2015), so keep an eye on how he might fit in the title picture further down the line too.

So, Cain Velasquez vs Fabricio Werdum, who you got?