The Baddest Man on the Planet.
If you were exposed to any part of the UFC’s marketing push for UFC 188, which happened Saturday night in Mexico City, you heard that phrase. If you were more deeply immersed in the MMA news cycle, the phrase burrowed into the folds of your brain like a car insurance commercial.
But how true was it?
Cain Velasquez, the man stuck with the ubiquitous tag, was once a seemingly indomitable force. But the heavyweight champ had fallen on hard times of late.
Injuries kept the champ on ice for nearly two years before he finally made it to UFC 188. Since recapturing the heavyweight title from Junior dos Santos in November 2012, he has only fought twice.
As a result, the UFC handed an interim championship to Fabricio Werdum after he defeated Mark Hunt at UFC 180. At UFC 188, Velasquez and Werdum fought for the real title. No more interims.
Would rust be a factor? Would Werdum stand up to the so-called baddest man and wrest away that title?
And what about the co-main event, which made a long-desired matchup between lightweight action fighters Eddie Alvarez and Gilbert Melendez, former champs in Bellator and Strikeforce, respectively?
As always, the final stat lines only reveal so much. These are the real winners and losers from the 11-fight card in Mexico City.
For the literal-minded among us, full results are available on the last slide.