It went down as one of the most fateful training camp decisions in mixed martial arts history.
Fabricio Werdum chose to train in the mountains above Toluca, Mexico, elevation 8,730 feet, for six weeks before his UFC 188 matchup with Cain Velasquez.
Then-UFC heavyweight champion Velasquez stayed in San Jose, Calif. for most of his training camp for the bout in Mexico City, elevation 7,380. He arrived in town two weeks before the fight.
On fight night in Arena Ciudad de Mexico, Velasquez, who had been out of action two years, started fast, faded, and was ultimately picked apart by Werdum before getting submitted in the third round and losing the title.
That led to an avalanche of second-guessing, as well as questions as to how the bout would play out if it happened closer to sea level -- a fight which almost happened when Werdum and Velasquez were slated to meet on Super Bowl weekend in a bout that fell out due to injuries.
For his part, Velasquez knows one thing: If he's ever going to fight in Mexico City again, regardless of opponent, he'll spent his entire camp in his ancestral homeland.
"If the opportunity would come up, yeah, I would go there," Velasquez said on a recent edition of The MMA Hour. "I would be prepared and do my whole training camp out there and get a win in front of them. I would have to do the whole thing. I would feel much better, me and my whole team, to be out there, and training out there and do whole training camp out there. I think it's that big of a difference to be going there early. Two weeks just wasn't enough, it needs to be whole training camp out there, eight weeks, nine weeks in training.
A throng of 21,036 came out to Mexico City to see Velasquez, who is far and away the UFC's biggest star in Mexico, defend the belt against Werdum. Velasquez says the fact he couldn't bring home a win makes him all the more determined to go back and fight in Mexico City again.
"it's always good to go there and get a win, but going around in Mexico City, walking around and seeing the people there, they're big fans of the sport and I would say I'm their favorite, you know?" Velasquez said. "I love to be that person, I love that I am that person, I think a win would have been much better, obviously. But do I feel a difference, if I would have won or lost between the people. I'd say no because the people there are so humble they love you whether you lost or you won. They're always behind you."
