Stakes are high for a heavyweight headliner between Travis Browne (15-1-1 MMA, 6-1-1 UFC) and Fabricio Werdum (17-5-1 MMA, 5-2 UFC) at UFC on FOX 11, UFC President Dana White said today at a pre-event news conference.
“The winner of this fight will fight Cain Velasquez in Mexico – assuming Cain’s recovery is on schedule,” White said. Although not yet made official by the UFC, that card is expected for November.
White did not give a precise date for the potential bout or a location for an event in Mexico, adding, “I’m probably going to get in trouble for announcing that.”
Velasquez’s coach, however, is cautiously optimistic the champ will be able to stick to a November deadline he set this past month in Dallas.
“He’s still in rehab right now,” American Kickboxing Academy coach Bob Cook told MMAjunkie. “I think he’s got another month of rehab before he’s cleared to start training. We’re expecting to fight in the fourth quarter. Unless there’s a delay in his progress, that should be very doable.”
The UFC doesn’t always guarantee title shots to the winners of high-profile bouts. White on Wednesday said the winner of a welterweight contest between Rory MacDonald and Tyrone Woodley wasn’t necessarily guaranteed shot at the belt.
With Velasquez (13-1 MMA, 11-1 UFC), however, a title fight serves a purpose. Since he regained the UFC title in late 2012, the champion has been targeted as a frontrunner in the promotion’s plans to open a new market in Mexico. But a shoulder injury he suffered in a trilogy fight with ex-champ Junior dos Santos has pushed back a debut in the country.
Werdum was targeted as Velasquez’s next title challenger, but elected to fight the surging Browne when the champ’s injury was confirmed. The top contenders now meet on Saturday at Amway Center in Orlando, Fla., for the FOX network-televised event.