When the UFC recently announced the heavyweight title rematch between champion Fabricio Werdum and two-time former champ Cain Velasquez, the response from fans was something less than overwhelming.
Many felt that in the wake of Werdum’s one-sided victory at UFC 188, Velasquez, who was coming off a long layoff, should get in a tuneup fight before going straight back to a title shot.
One person who believes the UFC made the right call with the fight, though, is someone with a vested interest in the outcome. Former UFC heavyweight champ Frank Mir sees the Werdum-Velasquez rematch as a coin flip.
“It’s a 50/50 fight,” Mir told MMAFighting.com. “It could go either way.”
Mir, who is training for his UFC 191 bout with Andrei Arlovski, used to be a color commentator for the WEC, and put on his analyst hat to explain why he’s not discounting Velasquez’s chances in the rematch.
“I don’t think the elevation was as big a factor as everyone made it,” Mir said of the first Werdum-Velasquez bout in Mexico City. “I think what happened was, so many people have underestimated how much Werdum has improved and become a true, well-rounded fighter. Cain respected what Werdum can do on the ground, but I think Cain wasn’t prepared for how much better of an all-around kickboxer and great striker Werdum has become, and that caught up to him.
“He’s not going to make the same mistake twice,” Mir said. “Those guys at AKA know how to make adjustments. I think you’re going to see Cain better prepared for a standup war and I’m not going to make a prediction, but I think it’s going to go either way.”