UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum will be taking on a familiar face for his first title defence.
Cain Velasquez officially earns rematch with Fabricio Werdum (per @ArielHelwani)
— UFC Tonight (@UFCTonight) August 13, 2015
UFC president Dana White confirmed to UFC Tonight on Wednesday that Velasquez/Werdum II is officially booked, but a time and place has yet to be announced.
Werdum (20-5-1 MMA, 8-2 UFC) and Velasquez (13-2 MMA, 11-2 UFC) are no strangers to being matched up against each other.
The two warriors were originally scheduled to headline UFC 180, but Velasquez pulled out with an injury. Mark Hunt stepped in to be brutally knocked out by Werdum in the main event which earned the Brazilian the interim strap. Werdum finally got his crack at Velasquez;s belt at UFC 188 usurped his throne with a guillotine choke in the third round.
Werdum goes into his first defence riding a six-fight winning streak, leaving him with a perfect record in the promotion since making his return from Strikeforce in 2012.
The rematch means that Velasquez will have fought just three opponents over the past five years after facing Junior Dos Santos three times, Antonio Silva twice and now Werdum for a second time.
Such was Werdum’s dominance in the first encounter that the fight announcement has received some backlash from fans on Twitter.
Fabricio Werdum dominated Cain Velasquez. The fact he's getting a title shot over the likes of JDS, Stipe and Arlovski is crazy to me.
— Adam Martin (@MMAdamMartin) August 13, 2015
The UFC are silly for booking Werdum/Velasquez 2 so soon.
— Ian (@ToonIanB) August 12, 2015
https://twitter.com/mma_ruudboy/status/631712749345763328
Why does @cainmma get to fight the same people over and over again is beyond my understanding….
— J. Khobb (@jkhobb) August 13, 2015
@danawhite How wasted were you when you decided to give @cainmma an immediate rematch after getting wrecked by @FabricioWerdum ?
— Drake Riggs (@DrakeRiggs_) August 13, 2015
Cain Velasquez only fought JDS, Bigfoot and Werdum between 2011-2015. And he's fighting Werdum next.
— Guilherme Cruz (@guicruzzz) August 13, 2015
https://twitter.com/DaveConvery/status/631715625656672258
I love Cain Velasquez but why in the hell the UFC gave him a rematch against Werdum? Doesn't make sense at all and is ridiculous.
— Kevin (@KevMeds) August 13, 2015
