UFC 188 raided Mexico City with an action-packed and star-stacked fight card that delivered on every level.
At the top of the card, UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez made his much anticipated return to the UFC Octagon against interim heavyweight champ Fabricio Werdum.
Velasquez missed significant time due to injury, last competing at UFC 166 in October 2013, where he defended his heavyweight title for the second time.
At UFC 188, Werdum crushed any hopes of a third title defense for Velasquez, submitting the American Kickboxing Academy product with a guillotine choke midway through Round 3 of their main event spotlight.
A world-class Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt with ever-evolving standup, Werdum was somehow able to outpace and outwork Velasquez, putting it on the former champ with a variety of punches, kicks and knees before securing the submission and ending the bout.
You can see the video highlights from this champion vs. champion clash below, courtesy of UFC on Fox’s YouTube channel.
In the night’s co-main event, lightweights Eddie Alvarez and Gilbert Melendez fought to a razor-thin decision, with Alvarez taking the fight on two out of three of the judges’ cards.
This split-decision victory for the former Bellator champ sparked some controversy, as Melendez’s friend and teammate, UFC lightweight Nate Diaz, was seen after the fight speaking with MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani.
He was not happy.
To be fair to Diaz and the Melendez camp, the fight was as close as they come. Each man had his moments, with Melendez mostly controlling the stand-up action and Alvarez peppering in some takedowns and solid shots of his own.
Using statistics, the fight doesn’t get much easier to call. Check out the video highlights above, courtesy of the UFC’s official YouTube channel and ESPN.com respectively, and decide for yourself which fighter deserved to walk out of the Mexico City Arena with the victory.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com