Fabricio Werdum was the biggest winner on Saturday night in Mexico at UFC 188. The 37-year-old Brazilian defeated Cain Velasquez by guillotine choke in the third round of the main event. Werdum won the undisputed heavyweight championship with the victory.
He was the interim champion and Velasquez the recognized king of the division coming into the bout, but in the end, there could be only one. Werdum and Velasquez were supposed to meet in Mexico in November 2014, but an injury forced Velasquez out.
He has battled injuries over the last two years and hadn’t fought since 2013.
Perhaps the layoff and the altitude played a role in the result, but most of the credit should go to Werdum. He fought a spectacular fight. He picked Velasquez apart in standup with his vastly improved striking and finished the deal with a choke from his bottomless arsenal of Brazilian jiu-jitsu maneuvers.
Jason Floyd of the MMA Report has the statistics for the bout:
Here’s a look at all of the results from the card:
Other Big Winners
Werdum’s win also won him one of the Performance of the Night bonuses, per UFC on Twitter. He was joined in the bonus line by bantamweight Patrick Williams and featherweights Yair Rodriguez and Charles Rosa, who won Fight of the Night.
Williams’ Quick Choke
It took just 23 seconds for Williams to set a bantamweight record for fastest submission win when he also used the guillotine choke to submit Alejandro Perez. The move was preceded by two right hands that dropped Perez.
Williams wasted no time pouncing on his downed opponent. The 33-year-old Floridian sunk in the choke and put Perez to sleep. When the fight was over, Williams was able to win over the Mexican crowd by speaking fluent Spanish in his post-fight interview.
Williams talked about his big night in the interview below from UFC.com:
It was an impressive performance all around from Williams and one that will have fans anticipating his next bout. After just 23 seconds of work, he could fight next week if he wanted to.
Williams’ record is just 8-4, and this win could be his one shining moment. While he looked the part of a serious contender, his career has been up and down. He’s never won more than two straight fights and still doesn’t own a win over a notable opponent.
We’ll see what he has in his next fight and reserve the hype train after extended success.
Quick Choke, Take Two
The guillotine choke was the move of the night. Efrain Escudero also used it to submit Drew Dober in the first round. The finish wasn’t quite as fast as the one Williams produced, but it was just as impressive.
It took just under a minute for Dober to tap as Escudero leaned into the submission. The sequence started when Dober attempted an early kick that was parried by Escudero. The evasion caused Dober to lose his footing, and Escudero took advantage of the opportunity.
He quickly locked on the submission, and that signaled the beginning of the end. To Dober‘s credit, he valiantly fought to escape the hold, but perhaps he had just seen Perez go limp in the cage the fight before his and thought better of it.
Since losing his UFC debut, Escudero has now won two fights in a row. The 29-year-old has been fighting professionally since 2006, but he seems primed to make a significant move in the next two years.
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