UFC 188 takes place Saturday night in Mexico City, Mexico. UFC 188 will finally see the return of Cain Velasquez to the octagon after almost a 2 year layoff. Velazquez will take on interim champion, Fabricio Werdum, and by the night’s end we will have an undisputed UFC Heavyweight Champion.
Gilbert Melendez vs Eddie Alvarez
Melendez vs Alvarez may be the people’s main event Saturday night. Both are action fighters that always look to put on a show for the fans. Eddie Alvarez hasn’t been given any breaks by UFC matchmakers since his crossover from Bellator. Alvarez was given a streaking Donald Cerrone in his UFC debut and has now been matched up with another top 5 lightweight, Gilbert Melendez.
For Alvarez to win this fight he may have to make it as much of a brawl as possible and Melendez has shown in the past that he’s willing to go there (look no further than his fight with Diego Sanchez). I’ve been a believer for a while now that Alvarez may be to small for the elite lightweight contenders. I really think cutting the extra 10 pounds to make featherweight would do wonders for his career (and who wouldn’t want to see Alvarez vs Frankie Edgar).
I’m very confident in Melendez’s ability to win this fight. He’s the bigger fighter which will play a factor in the fight and he’s faced a much higher level of competition throughout his career. I also believe Melendez will to whatever it takes to win this fight for the Mexican crowd which will be behind him.
Pick Gilbert Melendez -165 @5Dimes
Cain Velasquez vs Fabricio Werdum 
Fabricio Werdum is the most interesting stylistic matchup in Velasquez’s career. Velasquez has won most of his fights in the past using his wrestling and breaking the will of his opponents, but if Cain decides to take Werdum down then he’ll have to deal with the always dangerous jiu-jitsu game of Werdum.
I’m very curious as to what Cain’s game plan for this fight will be. I don’t believe he’ll look to engage Werdum on the ground. I see Velasquez looking to hold Werdum against the cage for a lot of this fight to wear him down and also use his boxing which he hasn’t shown much of in the past but it is very good.
Werdum has one of the most impressive resumes in MMA history. The man KO’d Mark Hunt and submitted Fedor Emilianenko. He’s done the unthinkable many times before in his career, but I think the iron will of Cain Velasquez will be too much. Cain’s stamina is unprecedented in the heavyweight division. In a 5 round fight, Cain will break any man’s will eventually and he’ll end the fight soon after.
Pick Cain Velasquez Inside the Distance -154 @5Dimes