Velasquez vs. Werdum confirmed for UFC 207

Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez was asked last month if he wanted to wait for a title fight with Stipe Miocic assuming the champ is taking a break, or if he wanted a fight sooner.

There is an obvious #1 contender fight opponent. Fabricio Werdum took Cain’s title at UFC 188 last June, before losing it to Miocic, and then rebounding with a win over Travis Browne at UFC 203.

If Stipe doesn’t want to take a break, I want him next, said Velasquez. If he doesn’t want to take a break – I’ve been hearing that he might want to fight in 2017 – if that’s the case, then the only fight I’d want, and the only fight that makes sense right now would be to fight Werdum, in December.

This one is personal.

The personal reference is due to the first fight between the pair, which took place in Mexico City, Mexico, at over 7,000 feet above sea level. Werdum went even higher into the mountains in Mexico, at trained there for a month. Velasquez did the bulk of his training in San Jose, altitude 82′ and journeyed to Mexico City only two weeks before the event, which left not much more than a week to train. Velasquez, who grinds like no one in the sport, gassed and lost, and has wanted revenge since, not presumably at altitude.

Doubtless fueling the enmity, dos Santos recently implied that Velasquez had been using PEDs.

“He is not the same anymore #USADA,” wrote the fighter on his Instagram, offering no proof or reasoning what so ever.

Now the eminently well-connected Kevin Iole reports for Yahoo Sports that the fight is official for UFC 207.

UFC 207 takes place on December 30, 2016 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event is headlined by bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes vs. former champion Ronda Rousey.