After word spread that Cain Velasquez would be forced to withdraw from his title defence against Fabricio Werdum and that Werdum would now be facing off against Mark Hunt to determine an interim champion, you wouldn’t blame Werdum if he felt like he was getting an easier path to the title. That said, the No. 1 contender doesn’t feel that way.
“I know it’s not an easy fight,” he said to MMAFighting.com. “Mark Hunt has a huge knockout power, but I will do my best to avoid that. I envision this fight like my fight with Roy Nelson. I will do the right thing to win the title.”
Werdum says he got the call and was initially taken aback.
“I was relaxing here in Mexico with my team when I got a call from Dana White,” Werdum explained. “He said ‘I have good and bad news for you, Fabricio. The good one is that you will still fight for the title on Nov. 15, and the bad news is that Velasquez is out with a knee injury, and you will fight Mark Hunt instead.'”
“I felt weird,” he continued. “My goal is the title, of course, but Cain Velasquez was a great challenge and is the current champion, but it happens.”
Werdum said that it isn’t a case of which fighter is easier to beat than the other and that his sole focus is coming out with the title.
“He’s a heavy guy and has a great chin. I have to be careful. I can’t say he’s an easier opponent than Cain Velasquez. There’s no easy fight in the UFC. Anyone can beat you. Everybody knows Mark Hunt’s punching power. I think my only advantage in this fight is that I’m training for a long time for it.”
