It's finally official - Cain Velasquez will defend his UFC heavyweight title against Fabricio Werdum Nov. 15 at UFC 180 in Mexico City. The pair will first coach opposite one another on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America.
The season will begin filming May 12 in Las Vegas and will air in the U.S. and in Mexico on Televisa beginning August 18. The announcements came Tuesday from UFC president Dana White at a press conference.
"It's a great day for me and the UFC," he said.
"Anyone who has followed this company and this sport knows I've been talking abut Mexico for a very long time. I thought Mexico worked very well with this demographic and this sport. And I always knew it would be big here if we had a chance to come here."
Velasquez is of Mexican descent and Werdum is Brazilian, though is also fluent in Spanish and is one of the UFC's Spanish-language event commentators. Werdum last fought and won April 19, dominating Travis Browne and earning the title shot.
Velasquez has not fought since last October when he stopped Junior Dos Santos in their rubber match, and is currently recovering from shoulder surgery. Coming back from just the latest serious injury in his career will be a challenge for Velasquez, he knows, but the champ is confident he'll shine in Mexico City.
"I'm going to do whatever I can do fight here in Mexico," he said.
"I'm going to be ready to do whatever it takes to give you a great fight. I've had an injury and I know what I have to do to be ready."
Neither fighter had bad things to say about the other. The challenger simply promised a good fight.
"I don't have to say bad things about Cain. He's a good person," Werdum said.
"I've had the opportunity to interview him and we've always had a cordial relationship. What we can promise is the fight is going to be a great fight. The rest of the UFC Mexico City card is not yet set but White promised that the promotion would try to fill it with solid match ups in order to make a splash in the new market.
Who are you picking to win this heavyweight battle? Let us know in the comments section.
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