UFC 188 brought a strange sort of clarity to the grand scheme of the heavyweight division.
Showcasing two of the finest heavyweights competing today—Fabricio Werdum and Cain Velasquez—the UFC’s latest event proved the more things change, the more things stay the same in the big boys’ division.
Prior to his latest fight in Mexico City, many fans and critics felt Velasquez could be the greatest heavyweight of all time. The past king, Russian MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko, rode a 28-fight undefeated streak from April 2001 to November 2009, but he lost three in a row from June 2010 to July 2011, putting his status as the greatest of all time (GOAT) in jeopardy.
Shortly after Emelianenko‘s fall from grace, Velasquez took over the UFC’s heavyweight class, going 4-0 from May 2012 to October 2013 and outright obliterating his opposition in the process. Velasquez’s college wrestling background instilled in him the work ethic to succeed, and succeed he did.
His top-level training camp at American Kickboxing Academy developed his hands, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, cardio and grappling to a point never before seen by a heavyweight fighter. Velasquez could not get tired, and he was powerful, fast, explosive—an impossible blend of skills for a man his size.
With images of Emelianenko getting flattened by Dan Henderson and pounded into the canvas by Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva fresh in our minds, it was easy to kick the aging Russian off the throne in favor of the new kid in town.
But as UFC 188 showed us, we made a serious error in judgment.
Over the course of two and a half rounds, Werdum battered Velasquez, scoring with punches, kicks and knees at will, outpacing and outworking Cardio Cain.
Velasquez, for the first time in his career, looked tired. He looked deflated.
By the end of Round 2, he was done.
Midway through the next frame, Velasquez’s fate was sealed when he shot for a takedown, ensnaring himself in an angular web of limbs known as the guillotine choke. Werdum shocked the world with a submission, an all-too-familiar story for fans across the globe.
It was, of course, Werdum who first nudged Emelianenko down the slippery slope toward retirement. The Brazilian fighter ended Emelianenko‘s miraculous run atop the heavyweight class with a triangle choke at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum, and the division has not seen a definitive ruler since.
By default, we’d have to give the title to Emelianenko. Calling Velasquez the greatest heavyweight of all time was partly based on what he had already accomplished and what he was destined to achieve, but Werdum suffocated that notion in Mexico City Saturday evening.
Interestingly enough, Werdum is now the leading candidate to dethrone Emelianenko in the discussion. The current UFC heavyweight champ owns submission victories over both Emelianenko and Velasquez, and his career resurgence is remarkable.
Where Emelianenko grew old and fell off the earth, Werdum grew stronger and rose to the top of the sport. Maybe he’s a late bloomer or maybe the game just makes more sense to him now—whatever it is, Werdum looks as good right now as any heavyweight ever has in the sport’s history.
But “right now” doesn’t lend itself to GOAT status.
We just learned that fact with Velasquez, so why fall into the same realm of fallacious logic with Werdum?
At 20-5-1, Werdum’s resume is sensational. He lost to Sergei Kharitonov, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Andrei Arlovski, Junior dos Santos and Alistair Overeem, with his draw coming in his second professional fight against James Zikic.
Of Werdum’s losses, he’s already avenged one, submitting Nogueira at UFC on Fuel TV 10 in June 2013. Three of the other four—dos Santos, Overeem and Arlovski—are currently Top 10 UFC heavyweights who could challenge for the throne in short order.
Looking at the current state of affairs, Werdum will almost certainly face at least two of those fighters—and perhaps all three—by the end of 2016.
If those bouts materialize as title defenses and Werdum’s holding the strap throughout, it’d be hard not to recognize what he accomplished and deem him the GOAT in the heavyweight division.
That’s a whole lot of “ifs” and “buts,” though, my friends.
I want to witness history as much as the next guy, and I want to see fighters continually outwork past generations, upping the limits of what is possible in the sport of MMA.
Werdum has the chance to do that, but he’s not there yet.
If you need a GOAT, choose Emelianenko. He’s the most logical choice right now.
But if you want to take your logic a step further, say “I don’t know yet,” sit back and watch the cards fall.
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