News broke that former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez will get an immediate title shot against the man than ran through him like a hot knife through butter earlier this year.
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UFC Tonight announced the matchup on Wednesday, sourcing company president Dana White.
After much debating as to who heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum would face in his first legitimate title defense, it looks like he’ll draw a familiar foe.
And although it had been rumored for UFC 194, no official date had been determined as of tonight.
Werdum and Velasquez are certainly not strangers when it comes to being paired together on cards. Mark Hunt stepped in to be brutally knocked out by Werdum in the main event which earned the Brazilian the interim strap.
Werdum, a heavy underdog, submitted Velasquez in the third round at UFC 188 in Mexico on June 13.
For Velasquez (13-2), his loss Werdum marked his first appearance inside the Octagon since decimating long time rival Junior dos Santos with a violent fifth round TKO at UFC 166 in October 2013.
This fight doesn’t make sense in the grand scheme of things unless Miocic or dos Santos are injured. However, Werdum had to fight in those same conditions and performed admirably.
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It represents another major test for Werdum, especially since Velasquez was actually heavily favored in the first match. Ranked as the No. 4 UFC heavyweight, he is now on a five-fight winning streak. Still, Werdum took care of business when granted the initial opportunity and appeared to be the better fighter through three rounds.
