A heavyweight rematch between former champions Cain Velasquez and Fabricio Werdum is being targeted for UFC 207. The pair met for the first time at UFC 188 where Werdum won the heavyweight championship from Velasquez with a third round submission.
MMAFighting.com confirmed the news which was first reported by MMAJunkie.com.
Werdum (21-6-1 MMA, 9-3 UFC) returned to the UFC in February of 2012 following a one year stint that started in 2007 to face Roy Nelson. After victories over Roy Nelson, Mike Russow and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Werdum faced Travis Browne in a #1 Contenders fight. After a dominant five round display, Werdum walked away with a decision victory and a shot at the title. Werdum was set to face Cain Velasquez at UFC 180, but after Velasquez puled out, Werdum faced Mark Hunt for the interim UFC Heavyweight title. “Vai Cavalho” won the bout via TKO in the second round. Werdum then did face Velasquez, and won the heavyweight title with a third round submission victory. Werdum faced Stipe Miocic at UFC 198, but was knocked out in the first round, losing the title. In his most recent outing, Werdum faced Travis Browne again, and again walked away with a convincing decision victory.
Velasquez (14-2 MMA, 12-2 UFC) made his UFC debut at only 2-0, but after 6 wins in a row, he earned a shot at the heavyweight title. Velasquez faced Brock Lesnar at UFC 121 and picked up a first round stoppage. In his first attempt at defending the title, Velasquez was stopped by Junior dos Santos in 64-seconds. Following a first round TKO victory against Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva at UFC 146, Velasquez faces JDS again, this time picking up a violently dominant decision victory and winning the title back. Velasquez defended the title against Antonio Silva and then against Junior dos Santos in their third fight before losing the belt to Werdum at UFC 188. In his last outing, Velasquez stopped Travis Browne at UFC 200.
UFC 207 takes place live from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Dec. 30, 2016.
