Cigano (photo) gave his opinion on the main fight of UFC 180. Photo: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
If there is an athlete in MMA who knows the heavyweight champion well Cain Velazquez, he is Junior Gypsy. The only fighter to beat the North American to date and protagonist of two other battles against Cain for the title, in which he ended up defeated, the Brazilian will now see his compatriot Fabricio Werdum try to win the belt, in a challenge scheduled for November 15th. Analyzing the fight in Mexico, Cigano highlighted Velasquez's main points, but saw Werdum with a good chance of winning.
“As a Brazilian, I will root for Werdum to bring the UFC title back to Brazil, but he has a difficult task ahead of him. Velasquez is an impressive fighter with great cardio, but I know Werdum is training very hard for this. He has a chance, yes. If he fights like he did last time (against Travis Browne), he has a good chance of winning,” said Cigano, in an interview with the “MMA Fighting” website.
The former champion also insisted on Werdum's last performance and highlighted the quality of the gaucho's performance against Travis Browne, in April. “Werdum's last performance was impressive. I've never seen him fight as well as he did against Browne. He got a big win and got a title shot,” he analyzed.
Having been sidelined by an injury since October 2013, when he beat Junior dos Santos himself, Velasquez will have not fought for over a year when he steps into the Octagon to face Werdum. Even putting the issue into perspective, Cigano believes that the Brazilian may have a small advantage because of this. “I think it can help Werdum. But this doesn't happen as often these days because the level of training at the gym is very high now. So you can prepare for a fight even if you haven't fought for a while. I think this won’t be a problem for Velasquez, but it could be good for Werdum,” he concluded.
Cain Velazquez e Fabricio Werdum led as coaches the first edition of the The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America, which has already completed recording and will premiere on TV on August 25th. On November 15, Mexico City (Mexico) hosts UFC 180, with the finals of the reality show and the duel between coaches Werdum and Velasquez, in a fight valid for the heavyweight belt.
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