Fabricio Werdum Plans On Knocking Out Or Submitting Cain Velasquez At UFC 180

Fabricio Werdum put on a striking clinic at UFC on Fox 11 against the favoured puncher Travis Browne. ‘Vai Cavalo’ dominated the proceedings in Orlando, Florida, and in doing so secured a shot at Cain Velasquez’s heavyweight title. The two are scheduled to serve as opposing coaches on the premier season of TUF: Latin America, before doing battle at UFC 180.

A two-time ADCC world champion, it appears that Werdum is rounding off his arsenal quite well. Check out what ‘Vai Cavalo’ had to say about the fight against ‘Hapa, as he spoke to MMAFighting.com:

“I don’t think it was an easy win, I trained a lot because I knew how important a win would be for my career. I beat him not only standing but also on the ground and with the wrestling. I showed that I’m prepared to fight for five rounds. I was impressed with the combinations I was able to do in the fight,” he said. “One, two, uppercut and kicks. He was trying to finish me with one punch, but I was hurting him with my combinations. It was a great fight, I’m really happy with my performance, but I will watch the fight again to see what we did wrong and fix it for my next fight.”

With the win, Werdum is now faced with the task of preparing for one of the greatest heavyweight champions of all time. Velasquez has off the chart cardio, heavy hands, and world class wrestling credentials. You’re are looking at a guy that man-handled Brock Lesnar, tossed Junior dos Santos around like a rag doll, and moves incredibly fast for a heavyweight. Werdum then gave the blueprint for his gameplan at UFC 180:

I will move a lot and avoid the clinch close to the fence,” he said. If he takes me down, I have to go for submissions with armbars, triangles and omoplatas or sweep him. A sweep would be important because we never saw how Velasquez fights with his back on the ground. He would have two options, give his back while trying to get back up or work his guard. Anything can happen, but we are still thinking about the strategy.”

“I believe he will try to do what he usually does,” Werdum continued. “He will move forward and put me close to the fence and take me down to get on top. I don’t know if he will try to do some ground and pound or just score points and get back up. It has to happen, right?” he said. “If he can’t fight, they should do an interim title. It would be cool, but I don’t want an interim title, I want to fight Velasquez. It’s a dream of mine to fight for the title especially against a guy like Cain Velasquez because I know it’s going to be a big challenge.”

Easier said than done is always the case for a title challenger, especially with a champion that is dominant, but a lot of fans are questioning how well the two match. More specifically, is Cain Velasquez a bad pairing for Werdum? CV’s wrestling prowess is what may be the end of Werdum’s title bid, but in the eyes of ‘Vai Cavalo’-it’s just another hurdle:

“He’s really good, but I will do my best to break his game. I will get there with the right strategy to win, but I would love to get the knockout or a submission.”

Time will tell if Werdum has enough tools to deal with Velasquez, or if ring rust is a factor for the champion, but one thing is for sure; I’m certainly very interested in finding out. It’s a shame that UFC 180 isn’t going down until mid-November.