Fabricio Werdum defied the oddsmakers and finished Cain Velasquez in the third round of their heavyweight title unification bout at UFC 188 in front of a sell-out crowd of 20,000+ at Arena Ciudad de México in Mexico City.
UFC 188 results: Full fight card winners and reaction from Velasquez vs. Werdum
UFC 188 saw the promotions heavyweight titles unified as Fabricio Werdum choked out Cain Velasquez in the third round. In the co-main event Eddie Alvarez got past Gilbert Melendez via split decision.
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Velasquez failed to take command in a violent first round that saw both men do damage. Werdum began to dominate in the second round, staggering Velasquez with multiple right hands, uppercuts and knees to the midsection. In the third round, a battered and exhausted Velasquez desperately shot in for a take down and found himself submitted by the best grappler in heavyweight MMA history.
The main event was a much anticipated Heavyweight title unification match pitting champion Velasquez against interim champ Werdum. Werdum claimed the temporary title by beating Mark Hunt in the UFC’s Mexico debut last year at UFC 180. He’d been set to face Velasquez for the belt after the two had coached The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America, which was a big hit on Mexican television.
Although Velasquez is a first-generation American born of Mexican immigrant parents, the Brazilian Werdum speaks fluent Spanish and hosts much of the UFC’s programming in Mexico and has earned his fair share of fans south of the border.
A methodically paced co-main between two veterans saw Eddie Alvarez take a split decision win over Gilbert Melendez. Melendez battered Alvarez early but let up in the later rounds. Alvarez stole it with takedowns and a more varied striking attack despite having both eyes swollen nearly shut by the end of the bout. The two lightweights had been champions in other promotions. Melendez reigned over Strikeforce for many years and has twice fought for UFC gold, losing to Ben Henderson and Anthony Pettis. Alvarez was the first Bellator LW champ and had to endure a nasty legal battle in order to leave that promotion. He dropped his UFC debut to Donald Cerrone a few months ago and desperately needed the win.
Young lion Kelvin Gastelum battered veteran Nate Marquardt for two brutal rounds before Marquardt’s corner threw in the towel to protect their fighter. Announcer Joe Rogan criticized referee Dan Miragliotta for not stopping the fight sooner.
Featherweight Yair Rodriguez wowed in a split decision win over Charles Rosa that saw him land an amazing mid-air double switch kick and also vomit all over himself during the post-fight interview with Joe Rogan.
Women’s strawweights Tecia Torres and Angela Hill opened the pay-per-view in a very slow bout that saw Torres take a decision.
Olympic Gold medalist Henry Cejudo blamed a “bad taco” for a less than sterling performance against Chico Camus. The heavily favored Cejudo remained undefeated with a unanimous decision win but struggled with the wily veteran and was stuffed on half a dozen takedown attempts.
The FX prelims opened with a slow grinding decision win for Johnny Case in a bout only remarkable for a first-round eye poke, but quickly rebounded with a pair of first round submissions. Bantamweight Patrick Williams set a divisional record for quickest submission with a 23-second choke out of Alejandro Perez, and Efrain Escudero followed with a 54-second submission win of his own over Drew Dober.
The opening portion of the card aired on the UFC’s proprietary Fight Pass service and saw two hard-fought bouts go to decision with Cathal Pendred and Gabriel Benitez taking the wins.
Complete UFC 188 Results:
Pay Per View
Heavyweight: Fabricio Werdum def. Cain Velasquez via submission (guillotine) at 2:13 of Round 3.
Lightweight: Eddie Alvarez def. Gilbert Melendez via split decision (29-28x2, 28-29).
Middleweight: Kelvin Gastelum def. Nate Marquardt via TKO (quit on stool) after 2 rounds.
Featherweight: Yair Rodriguez def. Charles Rosa via split decision (29-28x2, 28-29).
Women’s Strawweight: Tecia Torres def. Angela Hill via unanimous decision ( 30-27x2, 29-28).
FX prelims:
Flyweight: Henry Cejudo def. Chico Camus via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27x2).
Lightweight Efrain Escudero def. Drew Dober via submission (guillotine choke) at 0:54 of Round 1.
Bantamweight Patrick Williams def. Alejando Perez via submission (guillotine choke) at 0:23 of Round 1.
Lightweight Johnny Case def. Frank Trevino via unanimous decision (30-27x3).
Fight Pass prelims:
Welterweight Cathal Pendred def. Augusto Montano via unanimous decision (29-28x3).
Featherweight Gabriel Benitez def. Clay Collard via unanimous decision (30-27x3)
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