Cain Velasquez lost to Fabricio Werdum by third-round submission at UFC 188 in June 2015, but the promotion announced Thursday that the 34-year-old will have a shot at redemption.
According to the Los Angeles Times‘ Lance Pugmire, Velasquez and Werdum will be on the card for December 30’s UFC 207—which will be headlined by a bout between Ronda Rousey and Amanda Nunes.
UFC.com’s Thomas Gerbasi noted Velasquez and Werdum were initially scheduled to clash for a second time in February 2016, but Velasquez had to withdraw because of a back injury.
And while that bout didn’t go on, both fighters have been in the Octagon since their initial clash more than a year ago.
Velasquez most recently bounced back from his loss to Werdum with a first-round knockout of Travis Browne at UFC 200 in July, while the Brazilian has gone through ups and downs in two fights since.
Following his defeat of Velasquez, Werdum lost to Stipe Miocic in a heavyweight title fight at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland in May, but he rebounded with a unanimous-decision victory over Browne last month at UFC 203 to find his footing.
So even though Werdum and Velasquez won’t fight with a belt on the line, their recent history and pedigrees should set the stage for a highly anticipated bout before Rousey and Nunes shine in the Las Vegas spotlight.
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