No. 1 heavyweight contender Fabricio Werdum and No. 4 contender Mark Hunt will face each other at UFC 180. Hunt replaced heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez, who recently sustained yet another injury. Since the champion has been inactive for over a year, the winner of the main event this Saturday in Mexico City, Mexico, will secure the interim title in the meantime.
Nonetheless, the stakes for this upcoming bout remain high. UFC president Dana White recently expressed to UFC.com (h/t 5thRound.com) that Velasquez would most likely be stripped of his title if he could not return to the Octagon by March 2015:
We’re headed in that direction now. This next fight in Mexico is for the interim title. So if Cain couldn’t compete again, the winner of this fight (at UFC 180) would be seen as the champion.
Although Werdum and Hunt will battle it out for heavyweight supremacy on November 15, the two possess completely different skill sets. Werdum is a highly accomplished Brazilian jiu-jitsu expert, while Hunt is a straightforward, hard-hitting juggernaut. Their clash of styles should make for quite an interesting matchup in Mexico City. The following highlights strengths of each combatant’s skill set that could lead to possible victory.
Fabricio Werdum
Werdum (18-5) has won seven of his last eight fights. He is also a two-time IBJJF world jiu-jitsu champion and a two-time ADCC submission wrestling world champion. Werdum’s profound grappling background capitalizes on his opponents’ greatest weakness.
Hunt, however, has suffered major losses on the mat. The New Zealand native sports a record of 10-8, and six of his losses have come by way of submission. Leading up to UFC 179, Rafael Cordeiro, Werdum’s head coach, highlighted this weakness. Per Nancy Gay of UFC.com, he stated:
We know Fabricio has more skills on the floor, and he knows the best way to beat Mark Hunt is on the floor. But it’s hard to put this (advantage) in Fabricio’s mind, because he likes to challenge himself. He’s going to prove to the world that he’s the real champ, and he is ready for the belt. When you are ready for the belt, you fight the opponent that is put in front of you.
In the end, if the 6’4” behemoth is able to turn his matchup against Hunt into a grapple-fest, Werdum should be able to take home the interim heavyweight title with ease.
Mark Hunt
Hunt possesses tremendous punching power. His knockout record includes wins over Roy Nelson, Stefan Struve and Cheick Kongo, to name a few. Hunt is more than confident in his knockout ability heading into UFC 180. In fact, in a recent interview on Submission Radio, he gave little regard to his opponent’s tremendous grappling base. Per John Heinis of Bleacher Report, Hunt stated:
Everyone’s a world class ground fighter until they get punched in the face. So, that’s how I deal with all these ground fighters like everyone else. I hit ‘em in the head and there goes your f—ing black belt.
The former K-1 World Grand Prix kickboxing champion boasts a 70 percent knockout rate. Therefore, it would behoove Hunt to keep the fight standing long enough to land one of his patented knockout bombs. This may be the only, yet most effective, way he captures gold at UFC 180.
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