Fabricio Werdum is carving out his place in history. | Photo: ADD A PHOTO CREDIT, TOO.
It was a rough night for the home crowd at UFC 188 on Saturday in Mexico City. Other than a splendid performance from Yair Rodriguez in his split-decision victory over Charles Rosa, it was not a fruitful event for real or allegedly fake Mexican fighters.
Werdum (20-5-1) spent more than a month at altitude in the Mexican capitol to acclimate to the thin air, and it sure looked like that decision paid off. He paced himself early, and when Velasquez’s tank finally hit E, he tapped the 4-to-1 favorite with a guillotine.
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The personable heavyweight champion, as he is apt to do, showed his unbridled joy after trading his interim strap for the authentic belt. With his submission victory, Werdum updated a resume that now includes stoppage wins over three of the greatest heavyweights the sport has ever seen: Velasquez, Fedor Emelianenko and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
Many fans and media alike may still favor Emelianenko for his long tenure atop what was probably a deeper division, but at worst, Werdum has created a debate about the identity of MMA’s all-time greatest heavyweight. Should he defend his title and knock off Velasquez in a potential rematch, I think the argument for Emelianenko would become untenable.
Either way, Werdum has cemented his legacy as one of the best mixed martial artists the sport has ever seen, regardless of weight class.
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QUIETED STORM: Another fighter with Mexican roots, Gilbert Melendez, came out with guns blazing in the opening round of his co-main event, only to see things slip away. After smashing Eddie Alvarez’s face with a brutal elbow inside the first five minutes of their long-awaited lightweight showdown, the former Strikeforce and World Extreme Cagefighting champion seemed sapped, and his output declined.
Alvarez (26-4-0) has never been an easy guy to finish, and he lived up to his well-earned reputation by taking the fight to Melendez (22-5-0) for the final 10 minutes and eking out a split decision to avoid a 0-2 start to his UFC career.
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HIGH TIMES: Velasquez has been known as a cardio monster that crushes his opponents with a pressure game that leaves them battered and breathless. This time, he was the one left panting and helpless. The same can be said about Melendez, a veteran fighter who has used a swarming offense to wear out his opponents for years. Was the thin air at over 7,000 feet above sea level to blame or are these fighters just not in the same shape we have come to expect? What about their opponents?
Werdum traveled to Mexico City early to acclimate, but he still fought at a pretty hectic pace for more than 12 minutes and was much fresher than his vanquished foe long before the bout was decided. Alvarez came back from a punishing first round and outworked Melendez, who should have seemingly had an advantage after putting the smack down on his counterpart in the opening period.
These guys showed that proper preparation is a must at this level of the sport and that taking shortcuts can be fatal when it comes to fighting at altitude. This is not the first time we have had these questions. Most fans remember the debacle of UFC 135 that saw a pair of heavyweight clashes play out in the mile-high city of Denver. Needless to say, it was not pretty.
With attractive markets like Mexico City sure to be on the UFC calendar on a semi-regular basis, fighters will have to be diligent in their preparations or they could run the risk of getting run out of the building when their tank runs dry.
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HERE’S JOHNNY: Johnny Case showed a tremendous amount of heart in dealing with a nasty eye poke. After battering Francisco Trevino for the better part of the first frame, Case yelled out in pain after Trevino scratched his eye in an exchange.
Case, who originally told referee John McCarthy that he could not see, chose to continue fighting and utilized his wrestling ability to sweep all three rounds on the judges’ cards. Case ran his record to 3-0 in the UFC and has shown a diverse skill set -- not to mention a good bit of guts -- in doing so.
The obvious foul highlights a clear problem that we have seen rear its head in MMA from time to time: A foul leaves one fighter in a diminished state, and there are no real repercussions for the fighter committing the foul. How many MMA fights have you seen where the momentum turned on a groin strike or an eye poke? Now contrast that with how many fights you have seen where a foul has drawn little more than a warning. The sad truth: It is a rare exception when you have a fighter penalized for an obvious foul, intentional or not.
I would like to see more fighters pay a price, no matter their intentions. In a situation as egregious as the Trevino foul, I think a point deduction is warranted. If not there, then how about the Kevin Burns-Anthony Johnson brain tickler?
If there were real consequences, I believe fighters would take the problem a lot more seriously. There may be a gray area involving a referee’s interpretations, but I would much rather have those disputes if it meant there were more fighters being careful and fewer fighters getting fouled.
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FAST FINISHES: Efrain Escudero and Patrick Williams secured guillotine victories in less than a minute, with Williams doing the deed in just 23 seconds. According to a tweet from UFC President Dana White, UFC 188 was the first card to see two submission wins in less than a minute since UFC 12 in 1997.
For Escudero, the victory marked the first time in nearly six years that he was able to string two UFC wins together. The talented lightweight’s skill set was never in question, but he seemed to sabotage himself at nearly every turn during his previous UFC stints. If he has gotten the mental side of his game in order, he could be an interesting fighter for the UFC to promote as it continues its offensive into Mexico.
Williams put Alejandro Perez to sleep with a brutal choke that left the defeated Mexican fighter in a heap along the cage with only the whites of his eyes showing. It was not a pretty picture. However, it must have been a much better feeling for Williams than his last outing, where he was posterized by a highlight-reel flying knee knockout delivered by Chris Beal.
Greg Savage is the executive editor of Sherdog.com and can be reached via email or on Twitter @TheSavageTruth.