UFC 188: Johnny Case Looking to Emulate Donald Cerrone, Enjoy the Ride

It’s no coincidence that in his first three UFC bouts, the promotion booked Johnny “Hollywood” Case for events in Japan, Boston and Mexico City. 
Taking on Francisco Trevino at UFC 188 Saturday in Mexico, Case once again finds himself boarding a p…

It’s no coincidence that in his first three UFC bouts, the promotion booked Johnny “Hollywood” Case for events in Japan, Boston and Mexico City. 

Taking on Francisco Trevino at UFC 188 Saturday in Mexico, Case once again finds himself boarding a plane and leaving the continental U.S. for a scrap inside the UFC’s Octagon. The travel, according to the 25-year-old Alliance MMA fighter, is by design. 

“I’m looking at my UFC career for longevity,” Case told Bleacher Report. “It doesn’t really matter who I fight at this point. It’s where I fight. I want to use the UFC to my privilege, not the other way around.

“I want to take fights in other countries. … I’m here to make money, I’m here to have a good time and I’m here to make some memories.”

When the lights go down on Case’s career, he says these experiences in other countries are what he’ll remember and what he’ll be most proud to share with his family. 

“I just love seeing the world, going to see other people’s cultures, how people are living,” Case said. “One day being able to tell my kids and grandkids that this is what I did—I wasn’t afraid to go outside my comfort zone. I wasn’t afraid to go to other people’s hometowns, their territories, and just kick their ass, you know? It’s about just living life to the fullest.”

Now, Case takes the next step on that journey Saturday against Trevino, a Mexican-born fighter hailing from the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas. Because of these strong ties to the nation, Case believes Trevino will feel all the pressure Saturday. 

“Not only is he undefeated, but he’ll be in front of his friends and family in his stomping grounds,” Case said. “For me, I thrive on that. I don’t have any pressure. He’s undefeated, so if some s–t happens and he beats me, it’s not like he’s a bad fighter. He’s a great fighter, 12-0 record, so there’s no pressure for me. If there’s any pressure, it’s on him.” 

That said, Case is not one for making excuses, and he certainly has no intention of leaving the Octagon without his 11th straight victory. 

Undefeated since January 2011, Case slowly rose the regional ranks before punching his ticket into the UFC. Once under the banner of the world’s premier fighting organization, he rattled off two more victories—one knockout and one submission—over increasingly tough opposition. 

If he continues at this pace, Case can expect some top-15 or top-10 bouts in due time, but that’s not necessarily his endgame. In his eyes, fighting regularly, making money and taking time to enjoy the ride is more important than focusing solely on the shiny golden strap looming ahead. 

Whoever’s ready to go, I’m glad to accept, whether that be a bigger name or someone 3-0 or whoever,” Case said. “I don’t really have a personal preference right now. … I would, actually, like to be more like [UFC lightweight Donald] Cerrone in taking quick fights back to back. If I can stay healthy, if I can go out there and get a quick knockout or get a quick submission and come out of there with no damage taken, I definitely would turn around and rack another one in. I have to get paid!” 

To accomplish this, Case believes the proof is in the preparation. Training at the esteemed San Diego camp alongside fighters such as UFC veterans Myles Jury, Jeremy Stephens, Kelvin Gastelum and others sharpens his skills on a daily basis. He knows Trevino is not getting the quality of training on display at Alliance MMA, and he draws confidence from this fact. 

“I’m 100 percent sure that every one of my training partners would completely dominate the kid I’m going to fight, so there’s nothing to worry about,” Case said. “I think the advantage I have is my wrestling. I’ve wrestled my whole life, and I haven’t seen much of his wrestling game in his fights. But I’m going to go out there and I’m just going to fight, you know?

“If we’re standing up and I feel comfortable there, I’m going to be looking to finish it there, to go for the knockout. But if something is up and I’m not able to get in my groove and my striking isn’t working, I’m going to take his ass down, and I’ll finish him there.” 

And while extra motivation isn’t needed for the rising lightweight, Case does enjoy the sweet taste of the bad blood brewing between him and Trevino. The two were previously scheduled to fight at UFC Fight Night 59 in Boston, but Trevino pulled out at the last minute with an injury, leaving Case to face Frankie Perez instead. 

On its own, this is not so bad. Fighters get injured and late replacements happen in MMA. 

It was when Trevino opened his mouth after Case’s win that things went south

“After my win in Boston, he got on Twitter and started saying s–t like he’s going to knock me out, he’d out-strike me and all this and that,” Case said. “He just kind of came after me after that win, so, yeah, he started with poking the bear. … I don’t like this kid, he doesn’t like me, and it’s cool.  

“I’m ready to kick this kid’s ass and shut him up good.” 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Cain Velasquez vs. Fabricio Werdum: A Full Head-to-Toe Breakdown

After a 600-plus-day absence, Cain Velasquez makes his return to the Octagon. And what a time to head back, now that there’s a true challenger to his crown (a challenger not named Junior dos Santos, by the way).
Velasquez hasn’t stepped into the cage s…

After a 600-plus-day absence, Cain Velasquez makes his return to the Octagon. And what a time to head back, now that there’s a true challenger to his crown (a challenger not named Junior dos Santos, by the way).

Velasquez hasn’t stepped into the cage since he last fought Dos Santos at UFC 166. He bulldozed right past Cigano for four-and-a-half rounds before a chaotic TKO finish. He drew a clear line between himself and the No. 2 heavyweight in the world.

We last saw Fabricio Werdum at UFC 180 last November against the Super Samoan, looking scarier than he ever has. He absorbed some heavy blows before landing a flying knee for the ages—especially for a heavyweight.

The two finally meet this Saturday after a last-minute fight cancellation of the title fight that almost was. It should be a closer fight than most are predicting. Read along as we break the fight down from head to toe.

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After 20 Months on the Sidelines, Can Cain Velasquez Still Reign Supreme?

It’s been nearly two years since UFC fans last saw their heavyweight champion in action.
That would be a long time on the sideline for any professional athlete, but to gain real perspective on the curious career trajectory of Cain Velasquez, let …

It’s been nearly two years since UFC fans last saw their heavyweight champion in action.

That would be a long time on the sideline for any professional athlete, but to gain real perspective on the curious career trajectory of Cain Velasquez, let the following fun fact sink in:

The last time Velasquez fought somebody besides Junior dos Santos or Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva it was 2010, and his opponent was Brock Lesnar.

When Velasquez takes the cage against Fabricio Werdum on Saturday at UFC 188, it’ll amount to more than just an opportunity to get proof of life on the 265-pound champ. It will also be a chance for the man we’ve considered the best heavyweight in the world for the past five years running to show he’s still who we all assume him to be.

You couldn’t blame fans for wondering and, clearly, the UFC is almost out of patience with Velasquez. When his latest injury forced him out of a scheduled meeting with Werdum at UFC 180 last November, the powers that be inserted Mark Hunt in his place and put an interim title on Werdum after he won by second-round TKO.

Leading up to UFC 188, company executives also made it known that any further delays could cause Velasquez to be stripped outright. For his part, Werdum said he wasn’t buying Velasquez’s latest withdrawal, accusing the champion of trying to slow the Brazilian’s momentum by overplaying the injury.

“To be honest, I don’t think his last injury was that serious, I think it was more of a strategy,” Werdum told Brazil’s Porot do Vale Tudo recently (translation via Bloody Elbow’s Lucas Rezende). “I don’t think he wasn‘t able to walk or had to go under emergency surgery. It’s just my opinion, nobody told me that. I think he did it in order to slow me down a little because he saw I really wanted it—and I still do.”

Werdum’s frustrations—and the UFC’s pragmatism—are easy to understand. Velasquez’s title reign has endured so many health-related interruptions that, coupled with his three-fight series with Dos Santos and two bouts against Silva, it’s been tough for the division to maintain much momentum.

At this point, our conception of Velasquez as the world’s best heavyweight is based largely on theory. We believe him to be the best because he’s the UFC champion and because—aside from being unexpectedly knocked out by Dos Santos back in November 2011—he’s looked like the prototype for the future of 265-pounds.

Velasquez is mobile and wickedly athletic, especially by the standard we grew accustomed to during the heavyweight class’ formative years. He’s impeccably cross-trained in wrestling and striking, and his conditioning allows him to set a pace that very few fighters his size (and larger) can match over the course of five rounds.

He is, simply put in the parlance of our times, a beast.

But at this point, his recent resume is starting to feel a little narrow.

It’s hard to believe, but true: Velasquez has only fought two members of the current heavyweight Top 10—Dos Santos (No. 2) and Ben Rothwell (No. 9). Meanwhile, a modest new crop of contenders has taken root. Young guns like Stipe Miocic and Travis Browne are bringing new blood to the Top Five, while stalwart veterans like Werdum and Andrei Arlovksi are enjoying personal renaissances.

The heavyweight division is still fairly shallow and mighty long in the tooth, but at least there is a handful of challengers suddenly waiting to provide Velasquez with fresh tests.

That’s one of the things that makes this title unification bout with Werdum so important and so interesting. Aside from the fact that it’s the most compelling heavyweight bout in the MMA landscape at the moment, it’s important for Velasquez to show that at 32 years old, he hasn’t lost a step.

He’s been pretty insulated during the past five years, defeating Dos Santos twice in hard-fought bouts and plowing through a pair of cakewalks against Silva. The old MMA cliche is that style makes fights, and we just haven’t seen Velasquez against a very diverse assortment of styles since he won the title from Lesnar way back at UFC 121.

Werdum, meanwhile, could present a unique and halfway-compelling puzzle.

The 37-year-old jiu jitsu master is too deep into a late career resurgence for it to be called anything but extraordinary. Since getting run out of the UFC by Dos Santos back in 2008, he’s put up a remarkable 8-1 record that includes a stunning upset over Fedor Emelianenko, a 5-0 return to the Octagon and now an interim championship.

His complement of world-class BJJ and burgeoning muay thai skills could make him a dangerous matchup for a champion setting foot in the Octagon for the first time in 20 months. On paper, Velasquez has many of the advantages—speed, wrestling, cardio—but we’ve learned the hard way not to underestimate Werdum during the past few years.

A betting man would probably put the smartest money down on Velasquez, but there are still significant question marks surrounding his return.

For the UFC champion, beating Werdum comes with the primary goal of unifying his own title.

However, a secondary objective might be to remind us all exactly who he is, and replace some of those question marks with exclamation points.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

3 Reasons to Watch UFC 188: Velasquez vs. Werdum

We’re just a few days removed from the complete and utter—but ultimately welcomed—nonsense that was UFC Fight Night: Boetsch vs. Henderson. Seriously, what on earth happens to fighters in New Orleans?
Whatever the case, here we are, less th…

We’re just a few days removed from the complete and utter—but ultimately welcomed—nonsense that was UFC Fight Night: Boetsch vs. Henderson. Seriously, what on earth happens to fighters in New Orleans?

Whatever the case, here we are, less than a week away from the UFC’s second trip south of the border.

In the journey to Mexico City, we find ourselves embracing the return of the UFC’s heaviest champion and the baddest man on the planettechnically, but more on that later.

A lot’s happened since we last saw him: The UFC has crowned a new heavyweight champion, one new light heavyweight champion, two new welterweight champions, a new lightweight champion, a bantamweight champion and a women’s strawweight champion.

The chambers of greatness no longer echo with Anderson Silva or Georges St-Pierre. We’re still talking about Jon Jones, but not for his fighting abilities.

It’s been a while, a long while. But we welcome his return for lots of reasons.

Here are three reasons to tune into UFC 188: Velasquez vs. Werdum this Saturday.

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UFC Fight Night 68 Results: Burning Questions Heading into UFC 188

UFC Fight Night 68 is in the books. The results are as follows (courtesy of Bleacher Report’s play-by-play kingpin, Craig Amos):
UFC Fight Night 68 Main Card

Dan Henderson def. Tim Boetsch, TKO (Round 1, 0:28)
Ben Rothwell def. Matt Mitrione, submissi…

UFC Fight Night 68 is in the books. The results are as follows (courtesy of Bleacher Report’s play-by-play kingpin, Craig Amos):

UFC Fight Night 68 Main Card

  • Dan Henderson def. Tim Boetsch, TKO (Round 1, 0:28)
  • Ben Rothwell def. Matt Mitrione, submission (Round 1, 1:54)
  • Dustin Poirier def. Yancy Medeiros, TKO (Round 1, 2:38)
  • Brian Ortega def. Thiago Tavares, TKO (Round 3, 4:10)
  • Anthony Birchak def. Joe Soto, KO (Round 1, 1:37)
  • Francisco Rivera def. Alex Caceres, KO (Round 1, 0:21)

Fox Sports 1 Prelims

  • Shawn Jordan def. Derrick Lewis, TKO (Round 2, 0:48)
  • Omari Akhmedov def. Brian Ebersole, TKO (Round 1, 5:00)
  • Chris Wade def. Christos Giagos, unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
  • Joe Proctor def. Justin Edwards, submission (Round 3, 4:58)

UFC Fight Pass Prelims

  • Jake Collier def. Ricardo Abreu, split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
  • Jose Quinonez def. Leonardo Morales, submission (Round 1, 2:34)

Next up? UFC 188 on June 13.

Cain Velasquez finally returns to the cage after a 20-month layoff to take on Fabricio Werdum for the unified UFC heavyweight title. Not only that, but veteran lightweights Eddie Alvarez and Gilbert Melendez face off in a long-awaited showdown between former outsider stars.

So what else is there to look forward to on this card? What topics should you be talking about around the water cooler? Find out here!

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Short Notice, Massive Weight Cut, UFC Debut—All Nonissues for Andrew Todhunter

Forgive undefeated UFC newcomer Andrew Todhunter if he doesn’t seem too giddy about his debut at UFC 188. 
It’s just that, you see, he’s kind of been here, in a state of chaos, before. Maybe he hasn’t been on this exact stage. He certainly ha…

Forgive undefeated UFC newcomer Andrew Todhunter if he doesn’t seem too giddy about his debut at UFC 188

It’s just that, you see, he’s kind of been here, in a state of chaos, before. Maybe he hasn’t been on this exact stage. He certainly hasn’t fought in the UFC Octagon, and he’s never faced anybody quite as dangerous as Albert Tumenov in his seven-fight professional career. 

But as a former U.S. Army sniper who was wounded in Iraq and had to undergo three surgeries and rigorous physical therapy as a result, Todhunter just isn’t easily fazed. 

“Man, I was a sniper, you know?” Todhunter told Bleacher Report. “I’m pretty emotionless…The opportunity’s great, the money’s great, but it’s not like I’m going to jump up and down.”

After Hector Urbina pulled out of his originally scheduled bout against Tumenov with an apparent arm injury, UFC officials scrambled to find an opponent, according to Todhunter. Nobody answered the call before they buzzed him, but he gladly stepped in to save the day.

Forget that he was overweight. Forget that he’d previously competed at middleweight—never at welterweight—as a pro. 

Forget that he had eight days to prepare for the biggest fight of his life and had fought in—and won—a professional boxing match at 197 pounds just two weeks earlier. Todhunter knows an opportunity when he sees it, and he pounces. 

“I heard about the injury like two days ago,” Todhunter said. “They [UFC officials] said they were going to scrub the fight if I didn’t make it. I guess they called around and tried to get people to take it, and no one would take it. I said, ‘Well, what’s the deal?’ They said, ‘We’ll give you a four-fight contract, but you gotta fight in eight days.’ OK. Sounds like a plan. And I have to lose a lot of weight. That’s the kicker.”

While he wouldn’t disclose his exact weight as of Friday evening, Todhunter said he was “up there.” He is, however, a professional who routinely cuts 20 pounds of water weight within one day of weigh-ins. He’s also hired a doctor to help with this particular cut, so he believes he can get the job done and hit the 171-pound mark at UFC 188. 

Also in his favor is the fact that he’s no stranger to short-notice fights, and one particular instance from earlier in his career sounds a whole lot like his current situation when you hear him tell it. Sure, the stakes are higher now, but in the end, a fight’s a fight, and he’s been here before. 

“I feel like it’s been like that [short-notice] every fight,” Todhunter said. “I fought for the amateur Oklahoma state championship against one of Dale ‘Apollo’ Cook’s guys, a Golden Gloves boxer who wrestled, and I wasn’t even training. I was drinking beer out on a boat with my friends.”

The conversation, as Todhunter recalls, went something like this: 

Dale Cook: Hey, I heard you’re some kind of tough guy. 

Andrew Todhunter: Who is this? 

DC: This is Dale ‘Apollo’ Cook. 

AT: Well, I wouldn’t say that [that I’m a tough guy], but I’m not scared of you, if that’s what you’re getting at. 

DC: Well, it’s not me, but I got a fight, a title fight, and his opponent fell out. 

AT: What kind of fight is it?

DC: It’s an MMA fight. 

AT: When is it? 

DC: It’s on Friday. 

“This is on a Tuesday,” Todhunter said. “I’m throwing back Bud Lights with my friends, but I said, ‘Yeah, I can do it.’ I was young back then, 21, 22. I actually went to the weigh-insI was like 192 back then, so it wasn’t a big deal—and I was probably dehydrated from all the beer.

“So I went to the weigh-ins, weighed in, then we went back to partying like we just were. I never trained at all for it, then I went out and knocked him out in a minute and six seconds or something like that.”

Fights like this give Todhunter the confidence he can pull off the seemingly impossible again. Fighting, as they say, is more mental than physical, and Todhunter believes it is here that he gains an edge over his competitors. 

In the military, one particularly driven sergeant, Sergeant First Class Cashman, forced him and his platoon to endure a hellacious grind. This moment, Todhunter said, taught him what mental toughness was all about, and he’s been imposing the lessons learned upon his opponents ever since. 

“I had this 24-mile ruck march one time,” Todhunter said. “My platoon sergeant, he was a Ranger instructor before he got to us, and he wanted to set records. So we ran this 24 miles for the base record with one-third of our body weight plus our body armor and our gun.

“So you take your body armor, your gun, then you weigh in and one-third of that weight has to be in your rucksack. So then you take off. Twenty-four miles is a long way, man. I remember my feet were bleeding. I was hurting, and this old man was just going. I say old, but I was like 19 at the time. He was like 35.

“I was like, ‘This old man is not going to beat me down. There’s no way.’ He was just a regular guy, probably 5’8”. Nothing crazy athletic, but he was the toughest motherf–ker mentally. That guy, I had him around me for the next year-and-a-half, and he taught me what mental toughness is all about. 

“We were supposed to walk it. But he wanted to ruck-run it. And when you’re in the military and your platoon sergeant says something, and not only does he say it, he does it, and he’s 35 years old and 5’8″ and he’s putting a whooping on everybody, you gotta just bite down and go.” 

Todhunter knows his opponents haven’t run 24 miles, feet bleeding and body aching, in an attempt to stand out from the crowd. There was no money at the end of that run, no big award ceremony. Bruce Buffer didn’t raise his hand and announce his name to thousands of spectators when he crossed mile marker No. 24.

There was just the knowledge that he and his team accomplished what they set out to do and broke a base record in the process. That’s where mental toughness comes from. 

Losing some weight and fighting a world-class opponent in eight days, in this context, is nothing to get too excited about. While he recognizes that the weight cut and the short-notice scrap at a high-altitude venue will affect his performance, Todhunter thinks about Cashman chugging along, refusing to break under the weight of the moment, and it’s here he draws power and inspiration. 

“It’s not humanly possible to lose the amount of weight I’m losing and go out there and perform at my absolute best, but the only thing I have to say about all that is: I’m not a quitter, man,” Todhunter said. “You can beat my body, but you still gotta beat my mind.” 

When the lights go down in Mexico and the Fight Pass preliminary portion of the card kicks off, Tumenov will have to rise up to that challenge. As Todhunter sees it, the fight can go one of two ways. Win or lose, the result will be earned.

“Either he’s [Tumenov’s] going to stay on the feet and keep this fight standing, which, if that happens, then God bless him, because I’ve got some awesome f–king takedowns,” Todhunter said. “If I can’t take you down in 15 minutes, then God bless you, because I’ve been taking people down for 20 years who have good takedowns and takedown defense. That’s how I feel about it.

“Or he gets taken down, and I win the fight. That’s how the fight’s going to go. That’s how I see it in my head.” 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com