Cain Velasquez
UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez

UFC officials have announced that UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez will finally return to the cage to defend his title at UFC 188 on June 13.  He’ll be taking on UFC interim heavyweight title holder Fabricio Werdum. The bout was originally set to take place in November, but Velasquez had to withdraw from the bout due to injuries.

Velasquez (13-1) hasn’t competed since he thrashed former champion Junior dos Santos for the second time at UFC 166 in October 2013. In fact, injuries have only allowed Velasquez to compete five times since winning the UFC heavyweight title for the first time by defeating Brock Lesnar in 2010.

Werdum (19-5-1) last competed at UFC 180 as he defeated Mark Hunt via TKO to become the interim UFC heavyweight champion. Werdum has won five consecutive fights since his return to the UFC in 2012, and he’s probably best known for being the first heavyweight to legitimately defeat MMA great Fedor Emelianenko.

It looks to be a great fight on paper, but there are many questions surrounding Velasquez due to his injury history. How will the layoff affect him?  Will he be able to keep the same torrid pace advantage that he regularly enjoys against his opponents? Also, Werdum has always had a great ground game, but his striking has drastically improved in the last couple of years. It looks like we’ll finally get the answer to these questions in a few months barring the injury bug striking again.

Stay tuned to ProMMAnow.com for more UFC 188 fight announcements.

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