Fabricio Werdum (right) surprisingly dominated Travis Browne, setting up a UFC heavyweight belt fight against Cain Velasquez

Cain Velasquez has been on Twitter a lot lately, posting updates on the baby blue ’71 Torino he’s having rebuilt. And there he was a couple of weeks ago in a San Jose Sharks sweater, standing at center ice at the SAP Center between two NHL players for a ceremonial pregame puck drop. These are the spoils of being the heavyweight champion of the world. Opportunities and sweet moments come your way.

When you’re rehabilitating from shoulder surgery and out of the octagon until the fall, you’ll take any distraction you can get. Maybe you take up a hobby. With so much down time thrust upon you, you’ve got to have things to occupy your mind.

Well, the champ got something new to think about on Saturday night. Fabricio Werdum, who as a multiple-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion is generally accepted to be the most dangerous submission fighter among UFC heavyweights, turns out to be a pretty sharp striker as well. He demonstrated as much in a blowout unanimous-decision victory over Travis Browne at the Amway Center in Orlando, Fla.

It was a fight between the top two viable challengers for the belt, which is to say that in the SI.com rankings, the media-voted UFC tally and any other right-thinking mixed martial arts Top 10, Werdum and Browne are below only Velasquez and Junior dos Santos. And with Junior’s two thrashings at the hands of the champ exiling him from another shot at Cain, it will be Werdum (18-5-1) who’ll welcome Velasquez back to the cage.

Werdum earned that honor by beating Browne (16-2-1) at his own game thoroughly, assuredly and a bit unexpectedly. The appraisal going in was that if the fight went to the ground, it would be all Werdum, but if it stayed on the feet, the striking range of the 6-foot-7 Browne would carry the day. And that latter scenario was the expected result, in part because Browne had never surrendered a takedown in 19 career bouts and has the length to keep at a safe distance while remaining dangerous himself. Even though Werdum was ranked a spot higher, most had Browne as the favorite.

But Werdum let it be known right from the start that he was going to make this his fight no matter where it was fought. Midway through the first round he got the takedown he coveted, and even though Browne managed to get back to his feet before being threatened, a precedent had been set. Browne proceeded cautiously. Werdum didn’t. Late in the round, after Browne landed a solid kick to the body, the Brazilian slapped his side tauntingly and attacked, putting Browne on the defensive until the horn sounded.

It only got worse for Browne, which shouldn’t be such a surprise if you consider how his career has unfolded. Each of his last five bouts had ended in the fist round, as had all but five in his career. Travis’s pace slowed considerably as the fight wore on, making him a stationary target for Werdum’s sharpened striking and his grappling, too. Werdum got another takedown in Round 2, going right into side control for a kimura attempt. Browne defended well and got up again, but it took a lot out of him. The rest of the way, he had the footwork of Lurch from The Addams Family.

By the end of the night, according to FightMetric statistics, Browne had landed but 60 significant strikes, while Werdum had more than doubled that production with 121 — the fourth-most by a heavyweight in UFC history. That’s something for Cain Velasquez to think about.

Of course, Werdum has something to occupy his mind as well. Velasquez is going to be far, far quicker than Browne. He’ll be a crisper striker. He won’t be afraid to take the fight to the canvas. And he’s not going to slow down. The champ has shown himself to be head and shoulders above the rest of the heavyweight division.

The Brazilian can’t wait for the challenge. His first run among the big boys ended unceremoniously, when he was released by the UFC following a first-round knockout loss to dos Santos back in 2008. Since then, he’s gone 7-1, including four straight wins in his return to the world’s biggest MMA promotion. Just before rejoining the UFC, he shocked the MMA world by submitting Fedor Emelianenko, who hadn’t lost in a decade. Is Werdum ready for another shocker?

“I’m looking forward to fighting Cain Velasquez,” he said. “That championship means everything in this sport, and I’m excited to have the opportunity to show that I can win the title.”

The usual rejoinder to that, especially when it involves a date with Velasquez, is “be careful what you wish for.” But there’s also wisdom in this cautionary edict for the champ: Do not underestimate Fabricio Werdum.

Notes from the undercard

Fighting to be seen: The women’s bantamweight division is not too deep, so this was not a loser-leaves-town fight. But with Ronda Rousey’s stiffest competition seeming to be outside the UFC (Cyborg Justino, Holly Holm) and therefore no more than a gleam in the eye of Dana White, the Miesha Tate vs. Liz Carmouche co-main event was an important date for both in the pursuit of continued relevance.

It was a rugged fight, but the result didn’t exactly create intrigue. Miesha, who took a slim split decision, has lost to Rousey twice, so she’s not getting a third shot anytime soon. And Carmouche, who gave Ronda her toughest fight, saw this one turn around after a strong start. (I thought she won the first two rounds before being dominated in the third, but two judges gave the nod to Miesha.) Both women showed grit and will continue to be roadblocks for any others who fancy themselves championship contenders.

Cowboy up: A jab did the job. Donald Cerrone flicked a crisp one into the face of Edson Barboza a little over three minutes into their lightweight fight, and there was enough on it to drop him to the canvas. “Cowboy” didn’t hesitate, jumping on the stunned Brazilian’s back, clamping on a rear-naked choke and getting the tapout at 3:15. It was an efficient, explosive performance, handing Barboza only his second loss in 15 career bouts and running Cerrone’s win streak to three fights, all finishes.

Silver shines: Yoel Romero’s first takedown was so quick that viewers at home might have thought the TV was in fast-forward. There’s a reason for that: The Cuban was a freestyle wrestling silver medalist in the 2000 Olympics. That would make him the most highly decorated male wrestler in the UFC. He sure put those chops on display against Brad Tavares, tossing him off his feet to the tune of four first-round takedowns (on four tries) and seven overall. He was an accurate striker, too, landing 65 percent of the leather he threw. It all added up to a dominant and unanimous decision win, his fourth straight win since joining the UFC’s middleweight division last year.

Twenty-two and oh: Hear the buzz? It’s been going on for quite a while for Khabib Nurmagomedov, the 25-year-old Dagestani with the relentless wresting drive. He was 5-0 in the UFC, 21-0 for his career, when he stepped in with Rafael dos Anjos, who was on a five-fight run and getting his own buzz buzzing. Nurmagomedov was all over his fellow Top 10 lightweight from the get-go, and while he didn’t break his own UFC takedown record — he had 21 against Abel Trujillo last year — he controlled the fight everywhere it went and earned a lopsided unanimous-decision win.

Welcome home: Thanks to injuries to himself as well as scheduled opponents, Thiago Alves hadn’t fought in a little over two years. And before his layoff, he had lost four of six fights. (Of course, that slide began the way a lot of UFC losing streaks do: on a date with Georges St-Pierre.) But maybe fighting MMA is like riding a bicycle, because Alves (20-9) jumped right back on and rolled past a game but beaten-to-the-punch Seth Baczynski via unanimous decision. And just like that, the 30-year-old Brazilian is once again someone for the stacked welterweight division to worry about.

Source: www.SportsIllustrated.com By: Jeff Wagenheim

We open with Wanderlei Silva at the doctor’s office. His hand has been bothering him since last week’s scuffle with Chael Sonnen, and he wants to find out if anything is seriously wrong. The doctor tells him that he pulled a muscle in his hand and puts him up in a soft cast. We cut to the TUF gym and Job Kleber has his hand in a cast. Unlike Wanderlei, his injury came inside the Octagon. If the injury weren’t bad enough, Chael Sonnen has to deliver more bad news. Because Job cannot continue training, he must leave the show. Chael tells him that he’s very proud of his performance, and he will miss him. Job walks back into the locker room to tell his teammates and delivers a moving speech. It stirs up some powerful emotions, and Chael walks out of the room because he starts to tear up. Thugs cry and so do American Gangsters.

Later, Dana White appears via video conference and he delivers a speech of a different sort. First, he kicks Team Silva assistant coach off the show for sucker punching Chael during last week’s brawl. He calls Dida a “disgrace,” and even suggests that he should be arrested. Once Dida walks out, Dana then turns his attention to Wanderlei and Chael. “We’ve been flying around the world for years trying to get this sport regulated…people thought this sport was filled with thugs and that’s what you looked like.” He derides them for their unprofessionalism and calls them poor mentors to the young fighters on the show. Both coaches know they’re on thin ice, but neither seems to show much remorse. Chael points the finger at Wanderlei and Wanderlei praises Dida. He calls a team huddle to give the assistant coach a sendoff, and lauds Dida’s actions as something any Brazilian would do.
We shift our focus to this week’s fight between Borrachinha and Lyoto.

Chael predicts that this fight will be the closest matchup we’ve seen all season. A classic striker vs. grappler matchup, Team Wanderlei drills takedowns while Team Sonnen focuses on solid striking stance. We then learn more about the first combatant Borrachinha. He readily admits that he’s “very vain,” and we witness his grooming habits. Coach Silva has a lot of good thing to say about the 22 year old and not just because he has impeccable eyebrows. Wandy calls him strong, powerful, explosive and good looking (ok maybe the eyebrows do have something to do with it). He believes that Borrachinha is ready for the UFC and should be offered a contract right here and now.

Lyoto, on the other hand, doesn’t have much to say about hair product. He characterizes himself as a strategic fighter, and plans on using his wits and striking to earn Team Sonnen their first victory. He knows that Borrachinha has dangerous ground and pound, and plans on moving a lot and using distance to minimize the amount of grappling. You can’t take down what you can’t touch. Don’t expect him to be a slow, plodding fighter, though. His current record sits at 12-0 and he’s finished every single opponent in the first round.

Weigh-ins go on without a problem this week (thankfully), and former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua shows up to lend some support to Team Wanderlei, and Borrachinha seems genuinely starstruck. Let’s hope he has his wits about him because it’s fight time!

ROUND ONE
Borrachinha wastes no time bringing the fight. Lyoto dodges the initial charge, but inexplicably engages the clinch first. They move against the fence, Borrachinha throws a hard elbow and scores a takedown. He tries to advance, but Lyoto locks him down in half guard. Borrachinha may not be able to generate much offense, but Lyoto can’t rise to his feet either. Lyoto finally causes some separation, but Borrachinha responds with a massive overhand right. It partially connects, but Lyoto still manages to make it back to his feet. Borrachinha glues himself right to the karateka, and winds up taking his back. The powerful middleweight moves for the rear naked choke and starts wrenching Lyoto’s jaw. Lyoto fights off his hands, but Borrachinha stays in place and continues to work for the submission. After stalling his attack, Borrachinha unwinds his legs and switches to a guillotine. Lyoto gets his head out, but he’s back on the mat absorbing punches. Lyoto returns to his feet as time expires, but Borrachinha controlled the majority of the round.

ROUND TWO
Lyoto finds his range in the early portion of the second round and connects with repeated low kicks. After ripping up Borrachinha’s leg, he starts kicking to the body and scores with those as well. Borrachinha tries to clinch up, but Lyoto breaks free. Again, Lyoto appears to be winning the striking exchanges, but he forces the takedown. Borrachinha defends and pushes him against the fence. They jockey for position in the clinch, and neither gains the advantage. Borrachinha moves for a high crotch takedown, but Lyoto defends. They break apart, and Lyoto goes back to attacking with his kicks. Borrachinha spends the rest of the round fighting to bring the fight back to the ground, but he can’t finish. Lyoto sprawls and brawls his way to win the second round. We’re headed to “sudden victory!”

ROUND THREE
Both fighters are fatigued and it shows. Lyoto goes back to chopping away with the low kicks, and Borrachinha has little to no defense. At one point, he even stands with his hands on his hips gasping for air. Lyoto pounces on this opportunity and drops him with a left hand. Borrachinha recovers and immediately shoots for the takedown. Lyoto quickly returns to his feet and tries an outside trip, but can’t get separation. They stall against the fence and the ref breaks them up. After the restart Borrachinha dives for a desperation takedown and misses. He lays on his back and Lyoto milks the clock with some standing kicks. The ref stands them up with less than a minutes remaining, and it is a sprint to the finish line. The two fight in the clinch and Borrachinha’s takedowns continue to be denied. Lyoto hits a takedown of his own and finishes the round in top position.

The judges’ scorecards come back and Lyoto wins by split decision. Wanderlei gives credit to Lyoto for a tremendous performance, but says that Borrachinha didn’t pace himself well. He used too much energy in the first round and couldn’t recover. He’s sad for his fighter, but knows that Borrachinha is only 22 and has a long future ahead of him. Chael credits Lyoto for digging deep and committing to his strikes. The victory is bittersweet, however, since one of Lyoto’s kicks was checked hard and he can barely walk on it. We don’t hear any more about his condition.

The episode closes with the “Wrapped Up Challenge.” Four members of each team are covered in plastic wrap with their arms pinned to their body. The fighters will then have to scramble in any method possible to get back to their feet and ring the bell. The first team to get all four of their participants to ring the bell wins. Team Wanderlei cruises to victory and all of its members get to their feet before Team Sonnen even has one. This gives Team Wanderlei control to choose next week’s fight. Who is it? You’ll just have to wait until next week and watch the Ultimate Fighter Brazil!

Source: www.UFC.com By: Dan Downes

The heavy touted scrap between Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva is supposed to happen on this episode. Here’s our Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3 Episode 6 recap:

It really is amazing that Team Silva is undefeated in challenges and fights.

Wanderlei is late to the next fight announcement. When he showed up, Chael said he smelled like he was drunk. The heavyweight fight is Rick vs. Job.

Wanderlei says Job is the weakest heavyweight.

Wanderlei says he was late because he was at a doctor’s appointment.

Wanderlei says they are winning because their workouts are tough. They try and simulate real fight scenarios and throw many guys at each other. Jollyson was grappling with Rick and took a knee to the forehead and was cut right above his eye. He needed stitches. Wanderlei told his team to not mention it to the other team.

Their team challenge is called the typewriter. Using a contraption, they have to write TUF: Brasil legibly. The are all holding a separate rope which centers on a writing instrument. Finally, Team Sonnen won something. Team Silva has to stay locked in the house while Team Sonnen has a pajama party with the Octagon girls.

The Octagon girls are in semi-night gowns with shorts, while the fighters are wearing actual pajama tops and bottoms. Peregrino is the life of the party. You know it had to turn into a pillow fight.

Gabi Garcia came to Team Silva’s camp to help them train. She’s a jiu jitsu champ and she’s an enormous woman. She dwarfed Wanderlei.

Chael says that Job is tops in heart and determination, which might also mean that he’s not great with technique. Rick says all his fights have ended in the first except for one.

At weigh-ins, Wanderlei starts taunting Chael and spits on the ground near him. Chael says he’s been challenging him for years and only now is Wanderlei interested in the fight. Wanderlei says he knows the date of their fight, but Chael doesn’t. Chael said he’d like to know and wishes they could talk and say hello to each other. Wanderlei says that he doesn’t want to be his friend and gives him several big FU’s. Wanderlei says they’ll fight now instead and claps near Chael’s head. Chael pushes him and it’s on. By the way, Chael’s fighting in jeans and flip flops. Wanderlei throws a slap punch and Chael ducks underneath it and shoots and takes him down. Both teams swarm and there’s several guys who try to take cheap shots at Chael since he’s on top.

Chael’s shirt got pulled off him. Someone jumped on Wanderlei to protect him after Chael was pulled off him. Wanderlei wanted to keep going, but left.

Dida on Team Sonnen is the one who took the cheap shots at Sonnen and took his jersey. He said it was priceless to be able to hit him. Wanderlei says he preaches non-violence, but everyone has limits.

Rick is 223 and Job is 250 at the weigh-in.

Richardson “Rick Monstro” Moreira vs. Job “Cabo Job” Kleber

Rick nearly lands a haymaker right off the bat and the force of it knocks Job back, just enough for Rick to take him down. It was really his bicep that caught him. He got side control and then mount and started to land shots, but Job turned giving up his back. Rick missed the opportunity and Job was on top. The second he started throwing punches, Rich grabbed his arm and tapped him out with an arm bar. Completely mismatch.

Winner: Richardson “Rick Monstro” Moreira by way of 1st round submission.

Job broke his finger seconds into the fight, but fought with it. It was popped in after the fight.

Silva’s team is still undefeated and Chael says that he wouldn’t change anything. His guys come to fight and they fight hard.

Source:

www.fightgameblog.com

Daniel Cormier will not be fighting Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante next after all.

Instead, Cormier (14-0) will face Dan Henderson (30-11) on July 5 at UFC 175, according to sources with knowledge of the situation. The promotion is expected to announce the news in the coming days.

On last week’s episode of “UFC Tonight,” it was reported that Cormier vs. Cavalcante was being discussed for the event — and it was — however, the promotion decided to offer Henderson the Cormier fight following his thrilling comeback win over Shogun Rua on March 23. Had Henderson turned down the fight for whatever reason, the UFC most likely would have booked Cormier vs. Cavalcante.

The fight will pit two former Olympians. Cormier, a 2004 and 2008 member of the USA Wrestling Olympic team, improved to 14-0 in his light heavyweight debut last month when he defeated Patrick Cummins via first-round TKO.

The 43-year-old Henderson, a 1992 and 1996 member of the USA Wrestling Olympic team, snapped a three-fight losing streak when he defeated Rua last week.

UFC 175, headlined by Chris Weidman vs. Lyoto Machida for the UFC middleweight title, will take place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

Source: www.mmafighting.com By: Ariel Helwani