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On Saturday night, fight fans will be blessed by the rarest of UFC occurrences.
More rare than an Anthony Pettis victory or an opponent who can actually give Demetrious Johnson a fight, even.
Yes, on Saturday night in Curitiba, Brazil, there’s an honest-to-goodness UFC heavyweight title fight on the docket.
For only the second time since October 2013, the UFC’s 225-pound belt will be on the line when champion Fabricio Werdum steps into the octagon and defends his belt against Stipe Miocic.
For Miocic, it’s a chance to solidify himself among the heavyweight elite — winning a belt has a tendency to do that — but there might be even more on the line for Werdum.
Somehow, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu expert has managed to fly under the pound-for-pound radar despite a career that’s seen him beat all-timers like Cain Velasquez and Fedor Emelianenko, and a win on Saturday would go a long way staking a claim to the moniker of greatest UFC heavyweight of all-time.
That shouldn’t be a controversial statement and, yet, in some circles it somehow is.
“I wanted to be considered one of the greatest of all time,” Werdum told ESPN.com this week. “But I don’t want to have to say it about myself. I want the fans to say it. I’ve been a grappling world champion and now I’m the UFC champion. I want to be recognized for that. I need to be recognized as one of the greatest.”
Even if Werdum loses to Miocic, his name probably belongs on the shortlist of greatest MMA heavyweights. He’s on a five-fight winning streak and was brilliant against Velasquez.
Somehow, though, that wasn’t enough to earn him the respect it should have. Because the fight was held at high altitude in Mexico City, many in the MMA world chalked his victory up to superior pre-fight preparation, as if a fighter’s training isn’t always the deciding factor in big bouts.
Werdum had arrived six weeks early in Mexico and had effectively set up camp on a mountain. That allowed his body to adjust to the high-altitude as Velasquez, who arrived in Mexico only two weeks early, faded as the fight wore on.
If he beats Miocic, maybe the critics will roll out a whole new set of excuses. In their minds, maybe fighting in front of a Brazilian crowd will give Werdum an unfair advantage.
There’s one way to shut them up once and for all, though, and that would be to defend the heavyweight title three times. That’s never happened once in UFC history, and if Werdum pulls it off, even the most fervent haters will have no choice but to respect what he’s accomplished.
“I know I’m always the underdog and I know that I’m still that for some people,” Werdum told ESPN. “I will get there, though. After defending the title three times, that will be a way for me to prove I’m one of the greatest.”
CONFIDENT ALDO
Given the way Jose Aldo lost his featherweight belt to Conor McGregor last December, it would be understandable if he was a little cautious with his words these days.
But nope, that’s not the way Aldo is handling the loss at all.
Set to face off with Frankie Edgar for the interim featherweight belt at UFC 200 — the winner gets the next shot at McGregor — Aldo was completely clear about how he sees his immediate future.
“I will get there and run through (Edgar),” Aldo told a fan Q&A in Brazil on Friday. “It doesn’t matter what happens, we will win the fight. After that, we will get (McGregor) even if it’s in the streets.”
By all accounts, Aldo has become obsessed with getting a rematch with McGregor ever since the Irishman knocked him out in 13 seconds when they met after a long buildup at UFC 194. It had been years since Aldo had lost a fight, and the Brazilian had put up with months and months of trash talk from McGregor.
He was desperate to make his rival pay, only to be robbed of the chance when McGregor hit him with a perfect punch to the chin.
Asked about a rematch, Aldo was clear that the result will be different.
“I don’t think it will be like the first one,” Aldo said. “He’s coming differently but when we get in there he will go back to his game, and that’s when we’re catching him.
AROUND THE OCTAGON
Matt Brown seems to be relishing his role as villain in Brazil. The American is set to face local favourite Demian Maia on Saturday night, and responded to the boos of fans by sticking both of his middle fingers in the air and saluting the Brazilian crowd … Sort of hard to believe we’re finally going to get to see Cris Cyborg fight in the UFC on Saturday. Who knows what her fight against Leslie Smith holds, but this has been more than a half decade in the making.
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