Fabricio Werdum Reveals Himself as Hero of the Story, TKOs Mark Hunt at UFC 180

Much of the lead-up to UFC 180 focused on Mark Hunt’s chance to complete his Cinderella run to the interim heavyweight title.

After Saturday night’s final plot twist, however, it turned out Fabricio Werdum was the hero of this story all along.

Despite some dicey early moments, Werdum was always the more complete MMA fighter here. He weathered Hunt’s best stuff in the first round and then caught him with a perfectly timed knee in the second, forcing the referee to halt an onslaught of punches and hammerfists on the ground just a few ticks shy of seven-and-a-half minutes into the fight.

Hunt dominated the pre-fight narratives, but it was really Werdum who saved UFC 180 after Cain Velasquez dropped out with an injury. He spent the last two months living in Mexico City to get acclimated to the altitude and along the way was adopted as the favorite of local fans. He showed off his Spanish skills on the mic, danced and laughed during pre-fight festivities and kept the party going right up to the moment UFC President Dana White wrapped the title belt around his waist.

Oh, and you want to compare notes on improbable comeback stories?

Werdum has a pretty good one of those, too.

Christian Palma/Associated Press

He left the UFC in 2008 after losing to a debuting Junior dos Santos but has gone 8-1 during the last six years. His unlikely career second wind includes a shocking 2010 victory over the greatest heavyweight of all time, Fedor Emelianenko, in Strikeforce and five straight wins since returning to the Octagon in 2012.

Now, he can add a UFC heavyweight title to that resume, even as he continues to improve on it.

It’s Werdum who will shepherd the 265-pound division into the UFC’s vitally important 2015 schedule, in spite of his advanced age (37). He’ll wait for Velasquez to return from a knee ailment and then the two will finish the business they began as rival coaches on The Ultimate Fighter Latin America.

And if Velasquez’s rehab suffers any unexpected delays? It’ll be Werdum who loses the interim tag and becomes the UFC heavyweight champion proper.

We probably should’ve seen this coming.

Hunt entered as more than a four-to-one underdog, according to Odds Shark. His weight cut was tremendous, and he appeared beset by personal problems during fight week. Though he proclaimed himself fit and ready to fight by Thursday’s media conference, he hinted that the troubles were ongoing once the bout was over.

“Now I just have to go home and fix my marriage," a defeated Hunt said, via The Daily Telegraph's Nick Walshaw. "Go home and see my kids.”

Christian Palma/Associated Press

By comparison, Werdum appeared to be having the time of his life leading up to this fight.

For a time, though, it seemed like the armchair psychiatry we’d heaped at Hunt’s feet during event week wouldn’t amount to a hill of beans. He looked in relatively good shape as he took the cage and—surprise, surprise—came out swinging.

Hunt toppled Werdum with a winging right to the ear during the early stages of the first round. After surviving his one and only excursion inside the Brazilian’s vaunted guard, he hurt him again with an uppercut down the stretch.

Werdum wasn’t pushing the pace, wasn’t putting together the punching combinations that had typified his improving stand-up game during recent appearances. Between rounds, his corner told him he needed to get busy, though the end came so soon after he never really got things firing on all cylinders.

Christian Palma/Associated Press

In the second, he caught Hunt stooping low, perhaps for a shot at a takedown, and landed the knee flush on the side of his head. A moment later, he was perched in Hunt’s half guard landing strikes, and Herb Dean was forced to take action.

"(Hunt) punched me very hard," Werdum said to UFC color commentator Joe Rogan in the cage immediately following. "But I've been waiting for this moment."

The moment, indeed, belonged to Werdum.

So did the storybook ending, though it took far too long (and one highlight-reel knockout) for the rest of us to see the writing on the wall.