As of Sunday night, UFC 203 is shaping up to be a night of heavy hitters. The UFC announced Werdum will square off against Ben Rothwell in the co-main event. It’s the same night UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic will defend the title against Alistair Overeem in the main event in Cleveland, Ohio.

At UFC 198, Werdum suffered his first loss in the UFC since his return in February 2012. The Kings MMA fighter had won six straight fights and nine of 10 on his road to the title. Rothwell was riding a four-fight winning streak until he faced Junior dos Santos in April, losing by unanimous decision.

UFC 203: Miocic vs. Overeem takes place on September 10, 2016.

I don’t think he’s better than I am overall. I think I’m a complete fighter and I showed that in the fight. I was very conscious, the right word is reckless, I was a little bit reckless. I had my vision too open. I needed to focus a little bit more on him. Sometimes that happens. Your vision opens and in that moment he hit me and I didn’t see it. It landed on the chin. I think the most fair thing would be, I have six consecutive wins. I was the champion. I think the fair thing would be to get a rematch. – Former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum

At the moment, there’s no stated top contender from the promotion, but many are currently pointing to Alistair Overeem, who recently defeated Andrei Arlovski via jumping front kick to the chin and punches (TKO) early in the second round at UFC Fight Night 87.

For the main event, UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum and No.1 contender Stipe Miocic have to make a limit of 265 pounds. The co-main event features a middleweight bout between champion Ronaldo Souza and Vitor Belfort, both of whom will have to make a limit of 185 pounds.

Watch the weigh-ins for UFC 198: Werdum vs. Miocic at 3pm/12pm ETPT sharp! Stay tuned to Yell! Magazine for more to come.

Main card (PPV at 10 p.m. ET)

Fabricio Werdum vs. Stipe Miocic
Ronaldo Souza vs. Vitor Belfort
Cris Cyborg vs. Leslie Smith
Mauricio Rua va. Corey Anderson
Warlley Alves vs. Bryan Barberena

Undercard (FOX Sports 1 at 8 p.m. ET)

Demian Maia vs. Matt Brown
Thiago Santos vs. Nate Marquardt
Francisco Trinaldo vs. Yancy Medeiros
John Lineker vs. Rob Font

Undercard (UFC Fight Pass at 6:30 p.m. ET)

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Patrick Cummins
Sergio Moraes vs. Luan Chagas
Renato Moicano vs. Zubaira Tukhugov

Ahead of the big event this Saturday night, Werdum lunches with Beto Richa, the governor of Parana, and trades jiu-jitsu pointers with former light heavyweight champion Shogun Rua.

While his opponent Miocic puts the final touches on his Ohio training camp, middleweight Jacare Souza hits the gym in Rio, and Vitor Belfort enjoys his time at home in Florida. In addition, Invicta featherweight champion Cris Cyborg arrives in Curitiba for a hometown bout and her UFC debut.

Get all this and much more on UFC 198 Embedded Episode 1. The following episodes will be released throughout the entire week. So stay tuned to Yell! Magazine to watch them all.

UFC 198 Fight Card

Fabricio Werdum vs. Stipe Miocic
Vitor Belfort vs. Ronaldo Souza
Uriah Hall vs. Anderson Silva
Cris Cyborg vs. Leslie Smith
Corey Anderson vs. Mauricio Rua

UFC 198 Undercard

Matt Brown vs. Demian Maia
Bryan Barberena vs. Warlley Alves
Nate Marquardt vs. Thiago Santos
John Lineker vs. Rob Font
Patrick Cummins vs. Marcos Rogerio de Lima
Yancy Medeiros vs. Francisco Trinaldo
Sergio Moraes vs. Luan Chagas
Renato Moicano vs. Zubaira Tukhugov

It’s starting to sound like the main event of UFC 196 is in jeopardy now. A day after former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez announced he will put out of the fight card due to a back injury, Fabricio Werdum is now also pulling out.

Apparently, Werdum told Brazilian journalists that he has a back and foot injury, which prevented him from performing kicks for two weeks.

He said,

I was already injured, I have a foot injury, and haven’t been able to throw kicks in training for two weeks. I would still fight Cain because I was injured the last time, but I also hurt my back last Friday. I went to the doctor, tried to continue training, but couldn’t spar as I should spar.

I decided not to fight because I’m not 100 percent, If Cain was the opponent, I would go on. It’s not his fault, it’s nobody’s fault. Injuries happen. You can’t avoid them. I have no option. I made this decision because I’m not feeling 100 percent.

Since Cain pulled out, Werdum was expected to face new title contender Stipe Miocic at UFC 196 on February 6, 2016, but says he is willing to give him another shot at the belt in “two or three months.”

It took me a long time to get here and win this belt, be the champion, to throw everything away because I’m not 100 percent, I have to think about everything now, I can’t think and act like I did when I was 20. It’s not like that anymore. Everything changed. I’m 38 now, and I feel I’m at the best moment of my career, and I can’t risk my career because of pride.

At the moment, there’s no official statement from the UFC, so we’ll keep Yellers updated on the matter tomorrow. Stay tuned to Yell! Magazine.

Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez will need to wait a bit longer for his title shot since he just pulled out of the rematch with Fabricio Werdum at UFC 196. On Sunday, Velasquez released a full statement on Facebook concerning the news and his back injury, which could lead to further injuries if he had taken the fight with Werdum.

Stipe Miocic is now the new title contender and will face the newly minted champion on February 6, 2016 in Las Vegas. Velasquez is known to having a long list of injuries. His shoulder injuries have had a big impact on his UFC career and has only fought once since October 2013. Velasquez lost the belt Werdum at UFC 188 in June 2015.

UFC 196: Werdum vs. Miocic will co-headline a welterweight bout between Johny Hendricks and Stephen Thompson. Stay tuned to Yell! Magazine for more updates to come on UFC 196.

Full Statement from Cain Velasquez

I‘m sure you’ve heard the news that I won’t be able to fight at UFC 196. I can’t begin to tell you how disappointed I am and how I feel I’m letting you all down. I’ve heard and read all of your messages of support since my last fight and during this camp and for that I thank you.

Sincerely,
Cain

In a brand new video published on Instagram, former UFC middleweight champion Lyoto Machida displays his inner Daniel Larusso skills on Fabricio Werdum. Specifically, demonstrating (in humorous fashion) the famous crane-kick scene from the original 1984 Karate Kid film. Although, this is just for shits and giggles, Lyoto did however manage to pull off the move on Randy Couture back in April 2011 at UFC 129.

Check it out!

There’s been lots of talk in the past few days that it would be great to see Fedor Emelianenko ink a deal with the UFC and get a rematch with heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum, but that seems far from happening right now. “The Last Emperor” first needs to determine which organization he wants to fight for and negotiations won’t happen overnight. Werdum can’t sit on the belt while that happens, so the UFC is moving forward for his first legitimate title defense.

On Wednesday, it’s been reported via UFC Tonight that former champion Cain Velasquez will get an immediate rematch with Werdum, following his UFC 188 loss to the Brazilian in June. It’s been also confirmed by UFC President Dana White the rematch has been booked. However, a date for Werdum vs. Velasquez II is not set in stone yet.

Many believe Velasquez lost the belt to Werdum at UFC 188 due to the high elevation of Mexico City, which sits over 7,000 feet about sea level. The rematch should help silence critics if that was the key factor for the loss, or not.

Fedor Emelianenko is coming out of retirement and making a return in mixed martial arts. We know that’s sure thing because it was announced a few weeks ago, but we still don’t know which MMA promotion he will sign it. There’s definitely a few options open for ” The Last Emperor” and inking a lucrative multi-contract deal with the UFC is the one fans wants to see come into fruition.

Why? Because the UFC heavyweight division is the most stacked roster in MMA. Plus, a rematch with the current heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum would be extremely interesting and mostly importantly for the UFC, bring in big dollars. Fresh off his submission win over former champion Cain Velasquez in Mexico City, Werdum already opened the door to a rematch with Emelianenko. However, he doesn’t think the Russian fighter deserves a shot at the belt right away since he hasn’t fought anyone in over three years.

I don’t think we can do a rematch now because he hasn’t fought in three years, if he signs with the UFC, I don’t know if they would give him a title shot already. I think it would me fair if he fought before, and then he fights for the title.

During a UFC 190 press in Brazil, Werdum said,

Maybe they do a rematch with Fedor in December, even though the new fans don’t know much about Fedor’s history, the old fans, those who know MMA, know who Fedor is. That might happen. It only depends on the negotiation.

Werdum continued,

He lost twice after I beat him, and people forgot him too fast. If you ask around who Fedor is, no one knows. He was undefeated for 10 years, and he needed some rest. It would be cool if the UFC signed him. I would give him a rematch, no doubt.

What do you think? Is this rematch the fight fans want to see when Fedor makes his return in MMA?

For the main event, heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez and interim heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum have to make a limit of 265 pounds. The co-main event features a lightweight bout between Gilbert Melendez and Eddie Alvarez, both of whom will have to make a limit of 155 pounds.

The weigh-ins for UFC 188 starts at 7:00 p.m. ET sharp! Make sure to bookmark this page and watch the live stream right here on Yell! Magazine.

UFC 188 Main card (PPV at 10 p.m. ET)

Cain Velasquez vs. Fabricio Werdum
Gilbert Melendez vs. Eddie Alvarez
Kelvin Gastelum vs. Nate Marquardt
Yair Rodriguez vs. Charles Rosa
Tecia Torres vs. Angela Hill

Undercard (FX at 8 p.m. ET)

Chico Camus vs. Henry Cejudo
Efrain Escudero vs. Drew Dober
Alejandro Perez vs. Patrick Williams
Francisco Trevino vs. Johnny Case

Undercard (UFC Fight Pass at 7 p.m. ET)

Augusto Montano vs. Cathal Pendred
Gabriel Benitez vs. Clay Collard
Albert Turnenov vs. Andrew Todhunter called off