Fabricio Werdum vs. Cain Velasquez rematch delayed until March

[Wild]

The heavyweight division has again stalled, according to UFC President Dana White.

Following Saturday’s UFC 191, White said a rematch between UFC champion Fabricio Werdum (20-5-1 MMA, 8-2 UFC) and Cain Velasquez (13-2 MMA, 11-2 UFC) won’t take place until spring 2016.

What’s more, it was Werdum’s request to make it that way.

“The fight won’t happen probably until March,” the executive said after UFC 191, which took place at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. “That’s when Werdum wants to fight.”

White was responding to a question about ex-champ Andrei Arlovski’s title viability after a lackluster decision win over ex-champ Frank Mir in the pay-per-view co-headliner.

“Unfortunately, this heavyweight division is tied up right now,” he said. “We’ll see how this thing plays out and go from there.”

LINK: Fabricio Werdum vs. Cain Velasquez rematch likely delayed until March, per champ | MMAjunkie

 

[Wild]

Great...more inactivity at HW.

 

[ThatOneDude]

Ughhhh

 

[MoomBah]

Heavyweight needs some fresh blood. All these old fogies are clogging shit up.

 

[SongExotic2]

Unless they are both injured schedule another bout.

 

[Narcosynthesis]

not surprised at this point

 

[BeardOfKnowledge]

The longer you put off the fight, the higher the chance Cain gets hurt. The more time passes the more likely Zuffa gets Fedor signed. Cain out, Fedor in. Werdum - Troll Level: Expert.

 

[Wild]

The longer you put off the fight, the higher the chance Cain gets hurt. The more time passes the more likely Zuffa gets Fedor signed. Cain out, Fedor in. Werdum - Troll Level: Expert.

It's not out of the realm of possibility. UFC 200 is in July.

 

[Haulport]

Cain shouldn't get an auto rematch anyway. He had a mediocre run and then got handled by Fabricio. The UFC is the worst at matching-making and timing.

 

[ChaosOverkill]

Big Werdum fan here, but this is weak sauce if he's not recovering from something.

ALthough would anybody be surprised if Werdum came out and said he never told Dana March and it ends up on some next Mexico card they are planning under weird circumstances that may be at the behest of Zuffa?

 

[Wild]

Cain shouldn't get an auto rematch anyway. He had a mediocre run and then got handled by Fabricio. The UFC is the worst at matching-making and timing.

It's brutal. They love rematches, because they're easy to sell and it doesn't take much creativity. It sucks ass for fans however, in most cases. Some are merited and worth getting excited about. This isn't one of them, in my opinion.

 

[lookoutawhale]

Werdum wants to milk being champion as long as he can heh.

but crappy for the HW division. Its been on the sidelines for a long time.

 

[Wild]

Werdum wants to milk being champion as long as he can heh.

but crappy for the HW division. Its been on the sidelines for a long time.

This will be Cains 4th fight since Dec 2012. Let that sink in for a minute.

 

[Haulport]

Tru dat on both counts gentlemen...

 

[Haulport]

This will be Cains 4th fight since Dec 2012. Let that sink in for a minute.

yeah I frequently hit the shitdog database and look at stuff like that. This is why I think that belts don't belong in MMA. It should be all tourneys and if you can't make the tourney cause you're hurt all the time no one would give two fuqs about you...

 

[lookoutawhale]

This will be Cains 4th fight since Dec 2012. Let that sink in for a minute.

Did Werdum give any reason to why he wants to wait that long?

They both seem good to go again. I would have thought Dana would have said no.

 

[Wild]

Did Werdum give any reason to why he wants to wait that long?

They both seem good to go again. I would have thought Dana would have said no.

Only thing I've come across on Twitter is, he wants to take some time off. My guess...Zuffa is somehow behind the scheduling of this, for some reason. Fedors return? Other contenders fights lining up with regards to timing? No clue.

 

[ChaosOverkill]

Only thing I've come across on Twitter is, he wants to take some time off. My guess...Zuffa is somehow behind the scheduling of this, for some reason. Fedors return? Other contenders fights lining up with regards to timing? No clue.

Yeah Cerrone doesn't want to wait - Dana goes mental "I called Greg to force him to wait"

Werdum wants to delay fight "You're the boss champ!"


Really? Werdum all of a sudden has the clout to dictate delays without an actual injury? Somehow I doubt this at face value.

Either they don't care at all about HW (sensing this for a while as Cain hasn't captured shit in terms of hype) or March is a Mexico card.

 

[Left Hook Larry]

Reading the title i for sure though Cain got hurt again

 

[La Paix]

Maybe it's because I love Werdum too much but I just don't believe he's choosing to wait around for no good reason. I can't help but assume he's been "advised" for one reason or another, maybe be patient for Fedor? Maybe he wanted a specific opponents or venue and the trade off was time? Not sure but something seems off.

 

[BeardOfKnowledge]

Reading the title i for sure though Cain got hurt again

I honestly had to re-read the OP because I couldn't figure out what Cain's injury was, lol.

 

[FadeToBlack]

There's two sides to the coin: if we prevent fighters from taking a break defending their title, the fans win because they get to see a higher frequency of title fights, but at the champion's displeasure. If we allow them to take breaks, the fans suffer but the fighter feels less pressured to turn around and defend immediately.

I think we need a compromise here. Here's an idea how to do it: should there be a stated time window that a fighter can delay defending the belt that is a) fighter friendly but b) keeps the division's progress moving along for the fans? Right now, it seems very random and discretionary as to when one weight division gets an interim title and when another gets put on hold. There's no official protocol; should there be? For example, if the champ misses his window and fails to defend, you're eventually stripped of the title but you knew the terms up-front?

Obviously we don't want champs getting stripped left and right, so maybe give them a mulligan (you can miss the window once and still not be stripped, but if you miss it twice, we'll immediately have 2 other fighters fight for an interim belt in your division that eventually becomes the official belt if you miss your window a 3rd time? To me, something like this seems to find a middle ground. It may not be perfect, but it's fair and it's consistent across the board for fighters to conduct their affairs.

 

[BeardOfKnowledge]

There's two sides to the coin: if we prevent fighters from taking a break defending their title, the fans win because they get to see a higher frequency of title fights, but at the champion's displeasure. If we allow them to take breaks, the fans suffer but the fighter feels less pressured to turn around and defend immediately.

I think we need a compromise here. Here's an idea how to do it: should there be a stated time window that a fighter can delay defending the belt that is a) fighter friendly but b) keeps the division's progress moving along for the fans? Right now, it seems very random and discretionary as to when one weight division gets an interim title and when another gets put on hold. There's no official protocol; should there be? For example, if the champ misses his window and fails to defend, you're eventually stripped of the title but you knew the terms up-front?

Obviously we don't want champs getting stripped left and right, so maybe give them a mulligan (you can miss the window once and still not be stripped, but if you miss it twice, we'll immediately have 2 other fighters fight for an interim belt in your division that eventually becomes the official belt if you miss your window a 3rd time? To me, something like this seems to find a middle ground. It may not be perfect, but it's fair and it's consistent across the board for fighters to conduct their affairs.

To be fair, there's only been one inconsistent Interim title I can think of, and it's on Conor's waist. Although I'm disappointed I won't get to see Werdum fight again soon, if he wants a break I've personally got no problem with it. If he wants a break and then Cain gets hurt training for the later date fight, I still have no problem with Werdum having his break...As long as he gets another fight against someone else. My whole problem with the heavyweight division is Cain. They want so badly for him to be the champion so they can try to tap into Latin American audiences. The problem is he's an inconsistent fighter performance wise and a sub par fighter attendance wise. They're trying to shoe horn him into as many title fights held in Mexico as they can.

It's the opposite, but same sentiment of why Conor just fought for an interim title. They want badly for him to be champ, so what do they do? Jam him into a short notice fight against a guy who isn't the #1 contender and call it an interim title fight. Look at Silva/Diaz. Everyone loved that fight, but normally when 2 guys both on 2 fight losing streaks fight it's to see who will be getting cut, and certainly not a main event.

 

[FadeToBlack]

The UFC should implement some protocol then -- that isn't 100% whimsical and arbitrary -- when it comes to matters of title defenses, the status of one's #1 contendership (how active you need to be to remain the #1 contender), interim belts (time limits on when they get implemented, etc.). This way, the UFC wouldn't have to face credibility issues with creating an interim belt for Conor McGregor to win just so Zuffa can attract the UK audience. Instead they could be like, "See here, on our policy guide? It says very clearly McGregor met the previously established protocols to warrant him fighting for an interim belt."

Somehow, I doubt we see Zuffa do something like this. But it would definitely take away this arbitrary gerrymandering that currently exists in MMA.

 

[Narcosynthesis]

but same sentiment of why Conor just fought for an interim title. They want badly for him to be champ, so what do they do? Jam him into a short notice fight against a guy who isn't the #1 contender and call it an interim title fight.

Mendes was the No. 1 ranked contender when they fought.