UFC 188: Return of heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez and Olympic gold medallist Henry Cejudo
UNDEFEATED UFC flyweight Henry Cejudo has literally given his opponents a blueprint to counter his high level freestyle wrestling technique.
That grappling discipline’s gold medallist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics has written two ‘insightful’ books, including Wrestling for Dummies and American Victory- which describes his process to Olympic success.
This knowledge hasn’t helped his previous eight opponents and the No. 8 ranked American is perhaps a win away from a shot at Demetrious Johnson’s UFC flyweight (56kg) championship.
Cejudo taking on Japan’s Tomohiro Matsunaga in 55kg final in Beijing. Photo: Facebook Source: Supplied
Victory lap Source: Supplied
He will take on 13th ranked Chico Camus at UFC 188 in Mexico City this Sunday, an event which signals the return of heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez.
“I began training two years ago and had six fights during my first year of professional competition, with no amateur bouts,” Cejudo said.
“I hold twice a day workouts (2.5 hours each), Monday through Friday, with one training session on Saturday of 2.5 hours. Each session targets a specific area of emphasis and would include such areas as conditioning, drills, sparring, various MMA styles, tactics, etc.”
Demetrious Johnson is the champion of the flyweight division with eight straight victories Source: News Limited
Velasquez hasn’t defended his belt since October 2013 due to injury and his opponent on Sunday, Fabricio Werdum, has assumed the heavyweight interim title and claimed he’s the “real” champion.
Werdum is fresh off a knock out win over Aussie Mark Hunt to claim the belt, but his most notable win was over the man known by many as the greatest heavyweight of all time, Fedor Emelianenko, in 2010.
“I think my belt is a real one. Cain hasn’t fought in two years. On June 13 (June 14 in Australia) I will show the real champion,” Werdum said.
“Cain is a nice fighter, but I think I have five fights since he last fought. I won’t wait for Cain. I will go and try to put my strategy (in action). Maybe I will take him down. I want to see Cain with his back on the ground. He is good on top, but I want to see him when he is on the ground.
“I think the fans are 70-30 for Cain, but they will see who the best heavyweight in the world is.
“I think I am the best fighter in the world. I was there for the first fight with Cain. He was the one who didn’t show up. He had an injury, but I think it was a god strategy. He knows I would beat him.”
Velasquez won the belt by defeating Brock Lesnar (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) Source: Getty Images
Velasquez is most expressive inside the Octagon and he sees fighting in the country of his parents’ birth, as a major motivator.
“My father is from Mexico. His dream growing up was to move to the US to make a better life for his family. He made the walk over to the US and started working,” Velasquez said.
“The only thing that is different is that it is in Mexico where I have wanted to fight for a while. I’m just excited to be healthy, active and to be back. Even though I wasn’t the first one in Mexico, I just want to fight there. It will make up for it. Mexico is the only place I have ever thought that I really want to fight there. I always predict a war. This is no different. I am expecting that and hope for that.”
His ground-and-pound is considered some of the best in MMA Source: News Limited
The card will feature the lightweight (70kg) clash between fierce rivals Gilbert Melendez and Eddie Alvarez and, if it’s anything like Melendez’s previous ‘Mexican war’ against Diego Sanchez, we’re in for a treat.
Another mouth watering fight on this card includes the middleweight (84kg) matchup between 23-year-old Kelvin Gastelum and veteran Nate Marquardt.
The preliminary card will be available to view on Foxtel from 9am and on pay-per-view from noon.
Originally published as UFC 188: Cain Velasquez and Henry Cejudo feature in Mexico City
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