Fabricio Werdum might surprise everyone and knock out Cain Velasquez

UFC interim champion Fabricio Werdum is already in training for his unification bout with heavyweight kingpin Cain Velasquez, and he has a date in mind.

The UFC has yet to announce when Velasquez and Werdum will finally meet, but Werdum expects it to take place June 13 in Mexico City, the same place where he knocked out Mark Hunt to win the interim championship last November.

“It’s not 100 percent official, but I think June 13 I’ll fight Cain Velasquez,” Werdum said on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour. “It’s my dream, for sure, to (unify) the belts. When I set in my mind I wanted the world championship in jiu-jitsu, I got it three times. I wanted the ADCC championship, I got it two times. I wanna fight Cain Velasquez now, and for sure I got it. 2015 is my year.”

After a successful first trip to Mexico, the UFC plans on hosting a pair of events in the country this year, and Velasquez-Werdum is the perfect main event to once again sell out an arena in a pay-per-view card.

“I want it there,” Werdum said. “I want to fight against Cain Velasquez in Mexico City because I stayed there about two months before my fight and Dana (White) called me about (Velasquez’s knee) injury. I’m ready for the fight. I wanna it there because the Latin American fans want the fight. They want this fight. I want to fight again in Mexico. It’s very good there. The last event was amazing, 24,000 people inside the arena. It was good.”

Velasquez hasn’t fought since a fifth-round TKO victory over Junior dos Santos on Oct. 19, 2013, and the Brazilian heavyweight wants to face the best Velasquez in June.

“I want Velasquez 100 percent to fight me,” he said. “It’s very important for him to recover the knee, recover everything and be 100 percent. Yes, it’s a long time, but I’m starting to train again. I just stopped one month, I had a lot of things (to do), but I’m starting again. I just keep going, step by step. For sure, in June I’ll be ready for this fight.”

Nine of Velasquez’s 11 UFC wins came by way of knockout, and Werdum expects him to try the same thing in June. “Vai Cavalo”, who finished three of five since returning to the UFC in 2012, also predicts a stoppage victory over the American Kickboxing Academy heavyweight.

“I think he’s coming with the same game. He has a very nice game, boxing very hard, has good takedowns, but I think he’ll do the same thing,” Werdum said. “I think maybe on the ground. I see the fight the same thing of the Fedor (Emelianenko) fight. Triangle, submitting him. Or the big surprise. Maybe I’ll knock him down.”

Werdum, who actually meant knock out when saying knock down, believes in himself to fight Velasquez standing, especially after his dominant five-round fight against Travis Browne.

“Nobody believed when I knocked down Mark Hunt,” Werdum said. “(People) said before the fight ‘oh, Werdum maybe submits him, or Mark Hunt knocks him down’. But nobody expected me to knock down Mark Hunt. Nobody. They say ‘Werdum, please, don’t fight Cain Velasquez standing, boxing and muay thai, but I believe in myself man.

“I just showed a lot of times, against Travis Browne. They said ‘Werdum, please, go to the ground with him’, and I killed it with Travis Browne in the stand up. I punched him, broke his rib, nose, everything. Yes. This is very important. In the Travis Browne fight, I broke his mind. This is very important.”

UFC interim champion Fabricio Werdum is already in training for his unification bout with heavyweight kingpin Cain Velasquez, and he has a date in mind.

The UFC has yet to announce when Velasquez and Werdum will finally meet, but Werdum expects it to take place June 13 in Mexico City, the same place where he knocked out Mark Hunt to win the interim championship last November.

“It’s not 100 percent official, but I think June 13 I’ll fight Cain Velasquez,” Werdum said on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour. “It’s my dream, for sure, to (unify) the belts. When I set in my mind I wanted the world championship in jiu-jitsu, I got it three times. I wanted the ADCC championship, I got it two times. I wanna fight Cain Velasquez now, and for sure I got it. 2015 is my year.”

After a successful first trip to Mexico, the UFC plans on hosting a pair of events in the country this year, and Velasquez-Werdum is the perfect main event to once again sell out an arena in a pay-per-view card.

“I want it there,” Werdum said. “I want to fight against Cain Velasquez in Mexico City because I stayed there about two months before my fight and Dana (White) called me about (Velasquez’s knee) injury. I’m ready for the fight. I wanna it there because the Latin American fans want the fight. They want this fight. I want to fight again in Mexico. It’s very good there. The last event was amazing, 24,000 people inside the arena. It was good.”

Velasquez hasn’t fought since a fifth-round TKO victory over Junior dos Santos on Oct. 19, 2013, and the Brazilian heavyweight wants to face the best Velasquez in June.

“I want Velasquez 100 percent to fight me,” he said. “It’s very important for him to recover the knee, recover everything and be 100 percent. Yes, it’s a long time, but I’m starting to train again. I just stopped one month, I had a lot of things (to do), but I’m starting again. I just keep going, step by step. For sure, in June I’ll be ready for this fight.”

Nine of Velasquez’s 11 UFC wins came by way of knockout, and Werdum expects him to try the same thing in June. “Vai Cavalo”, who finished three of five since returning to the UFC in 2012, also predicts a stoppage victory over the American Kickboxing Academy heavyweight.

“I think he’s coming with the same game. He has a very nice game, boxing very hard, has good takedowns, but I think he’ll do the same thing,” Werdum said. “I think maybe on the ground. I see the fight the same thing of the Fedor (Emelianenko) fight. Triangle, submitting him. Or the big surprise. Maybe I’ll knock him down.”

Werdum, who actually meant knock out when saying knock down, believes in himself to fight Velasquez standing, especially after his dominant five-round fight against Travis Browne.

“Nobody believed when I knocked down Mark Hunt,” Werdum said. “(People) said before the fight ‘oh, Werdum maybe submits him, or Mark Hunt knocks him down’. But nobody expected me to knock down Mark Hunt. Nobody. They say ‘Werdum, please, don’t fight Cain Velasquez standing, boxing and muay thai, but I believe in myself man.

“I just showed a lot of times, against Travis Browne. They said ‘Werdum, please, go to the ground with him’, and I killed it with Travis Browne in the stand up. I punched him, broke his rib, nose, everything. Yes. This is very important. In the Travis Browne fight, I broke his mind. This is very important.”