Fabricio Werdum gets his long-awaited title opportunity in UFC 180 Saturday night against Mark Hunt, with the winner claiming the interim heavyweight belt and setting up a potential showdown with Cain Velasquez.
Of course, the defending heavyweight champion was slated to face Werdum in the main event of this anticipated fight card before he pulled out due to a knee injury that could keep him out until at least March. Now, Hunt will get an opportunity to become champion that even the 40-year-old had to think was in the rearview mirror at times.
No stranger to facing elite competition, Hunt will step up to the challenge—but will it be enough to thwart a hungry and determined Werdum, who has been preparing for months to face Velasquez in the fight of his career?
We’ll soon find out, but let’s go ahead and take a closer look at the matchup below.
When: Saturday, November 14
Where: Arena Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico City
Watch: UFC.tv pay-per-view (main card starts 10 p.m. ET)
Odds: Werdum (-410), Hunt (+365), according to Odds Shark (last updated Nov. 14 at 9 p.m. ET).
Latest UFC 180 Comments and Predictions
At 40 years old and well-versed in the UFC with notable bouts against some of the top heavyweights, Hunt is no stranger to the quality of opponent he’ll face on Saturday night.
The turnaround, however, is undoubtedly a new thing.
Hunt had all of three weeks to go from 300 pounds to the 265 limit necessary to fight in the heavyweight division, and he did just that on Friday afternoon. Now that that’s behind him, he plans on bulking up in the 24 hours leading up to the fight, per Daniel Richardson of the New Zealand Herald:
Of course, cutting the weight was only the first thing on the agenda. Next up is the challenge of beating Werdum, who has been gearing up for his long-anticipated title shot against Velasquez.
Hunt has defeated the likes of Stefan Struve, Roy Nelson and Cheick Kongo as of late. He also had a draw against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva in one of the best fights of 2013.
He is aware of his underdog role in Saturday’s fight and isn’t backing down from it, per MMAFighting.com’s Shaun Al-Shatti: “My whole career has been an underdog’s. I’m not supposed to be here. I won the world title in K-1 as a nobody. Of course, I’m the underdog. Everyone is saying it. I mean, even these circumstances brings me there, but hey, man, it makes a good story. If anyone can do it, I can do it.”
Despite Hunt’s undeniable heart and grit, he won’t be a match for the likes of Werdum.
Once touted primarily for his jiu-jitsu fighting skills and not much else, Werdum used to struggle against formidable strikers. He put that all to bed against Travis Browne in his last fight, dominating the striking expert and pulling out an easy victory.
Fox Sports’ Daniel Cormier and Phil Davis like Werdum to do the same on Saturday against Hunt.
As for ESPN’s new UFC expert Chael Sonnen, he believes Werdum’s smaller size acts as an advantage and also lauded the 37-year-old’s world-class ground game.
Regardless, some folks like Kale Havervold of Yahoo Sports believe Saturday’s fight will only lead to the inevitable—Velasquez retaining his heavyweight title:
Hunt has been in these types of positions before where everyone is counting against him. His recent surge suggests that he’s worthy of being selected and also promises that he’ll prove to be more than just a test for Werdum.
With that said, he’s nowhere near at 100 percent after having to cut so much weight. Meanwhile, Werdum has been gearing up for the biggest fight of his career—which is now coming against a much inferior foe.
Hunt will keep it interesting in the first few rounds but will get slowly overtaken by Werdum’s conditioning and overall ability. By the end of the five rounds, there will be no doubt that Werdum deserves the shot at Velasquez.
Prediction: Werdum wins via unanimous decision
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