Brazilian pride Cain Velasquez may have fallen the last time out but the UFC veteran will get a chance to redeem himself as both fighters face off once more at a date and place that has yet to be made official.
The rematch was confirmed by Ariel Harwani of UFC Tonight last August 12.
To recall, Velasquez fell to Werdum when the interim UFC heavyweight champion caught Velasquez with a guillotine hold in the third round.
One key factor that was singled out was the adjustment to the high altitude of where the fight took place. Werdum flew in earlier, spending 40 days in Mexico to get himself acclimatized at 10,000 feet. Velasquez arrived much later, barely two weeks into the match and training only at 7,500 feet.
So would the outcome be different had Velasquez arrived earlier and trained at a higher altitude? While there is no one really being singled out at fault for the loss, head coach Javier Mendez spoke up and believed that it should he who must take the blame and not his guy.
Mendez gave his take on Velasquez’s loss via Talking Brawls and transcribed by David St. Martin of MMAfighting.com:
“I screwed up the last time. The bottom line is it was my responsibility to prepare my fighter in the best possible way and that night I didn’t. I failed. I failed at my job. Regardless of Cain saying it was his fault, it wasn’t. It was my fault. It was my responsibility to look into the altitude and all that. I screwed up and I won’t make that mistake again.”
Velasquez was headed into the match as a heavy favorite over Werdum so the loss was certainly a pretty big deal. Aside from Mendez, there are some who believe that the outcome would have been different had Velasquez fully adjusted to the altitude, being 100% healthy and ready for the interim champ.
Of course, nothing can reverse that loss right now though redemption could be attained if Velasquez can bounce back in the rematch.
The sequel is bound to be a lot more interesting as many are looking forward to a big return by Velasquez. Mendez will make sure that they do just that though there are some who feel that the Werdum vs. Velasquez tiff will be a toss-up.
Among those who believe that is Frank Mir.
"It's a 50/50 fight," Mir told MMAFighting.com. "It could go either way."
Will the outcome indeed be different or will Werdum continue to savor his underdog tag and come out with another win?
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