UFC 188: Velasquez vs. Werdum - 3 things you need to know
The UFC returns to Mexico City for UFC 188 on Saturday night where a pair of champions will try and stake their claim to the heavyweight throne.
UFC 188 Coverage
Here are three things you need to know about UFC 188:
There can be only one
Two men have been parading around Mexico City this week with the UFC heavyweight title slung over their shoulders, and one will be outed as a fraud on Saturday night.
Well ... "fraud" is maybe too harsh, but we will find out if interim champion Fabricio Werdum is a pretender to the throne, or if rightful champion Cain Velasquez is the one true king of the heavyweights. The tantalizing matchup was originally scheduled for UFC 180 last year but was briefly wiped from existence when Velasquez bowed out with a knee injury.
Werdum went on to capture the interim title with a come-from-behind victory over ultra-durable Super Samoan Mark Hunt, setting up a title vs. title bout that has grown more venomous with each passing day.
The pre-fight hype hit a fever pitch recently when Werdum jokingly referred to himself as "more Mexican" than the Mexican-American Velasquez. The stoic Velasquez was not amused.
"I'm not your buddy, for one. I'm going to whoop your ass," Velasquez said, according to FOX Sports' Elias Cepeda. "It's OK, because I get to settle it on Saturday, and I'm happy about that. I get to settle it, physically."
A long-awaited lightweight clash will finally come to fruition
Gilbert Melendez and Eddie Alvarez have been itching to legally assault each other for years.
Back when Melendez and Alvarez were the Strikeforce and Bellator lightweight champions, respectively, the two promotions toyed with the idea of co-promoting a show that would pit their prize 155-pounders against each other.
The co-promotion never materialized, though, and it took years before both men were employed under the same banner.
"There wasn't any tension," Alvarez told MMAjunkie.com about being in the same room with Melendez. "He didn't say shit. He told the media that if he was in a room with me, he was going to say something or do something. He didn't do shit. I looked him right in his face, and he didn't say shit to me. And when I see him again, he won't say shit to me."
Cejudo's ascent
Demetrious Johnson's reign of terror over the flyweight division has been ruthlessly efficient.
Mighty Mouse has all but eliminated the top contenders in the relatively shallow division, but a threat lurks in the shadows, likely only a victory or two away from legitimately challenging Johnson's sheer dominance.
Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo faces Chico Camus on Saturday. Should he easily dispatch of the Roufusport veteran, Cejudo could see himself in a title eliminator - or even a title fight - before the end of 2015, or in the early stages of 2016.
"I think it'll be about timing," Cejudo told MMAjunkie Radio about a potential bout with the champ. "I feel ready now, but obviously I have a team behind me, and we make a decision together. It's not just me, myself and I. It's my team that comes together, and we make the best decision possible.
"We not only can win the belt, but win it decisively - with dominance."