Top Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight contender, Fabricio Werdum, is widely-expected to be the next man to challenge Cain Velasquez for the promotion's 265-pound title, now that the reigning division kingpin has booted former rival Junior dos Santos to the back of the line.

And a submission win over Velasquez would likely send Werdum into retirement.

That would equate to zero title defenses for "Vai Cavalo," but I guess it doesn't matter, because once you've submitted Fedor Emelianenko, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Velasquez -- three of the greatest heavyweight champions in the history of mixed martial arts (MMA) -- there is no place left to go in your career.

Werdum breaks it down for Sherdog.com:

"The fight will happen in February or March, and I'll study his game hard. I'll train a lot. I saw an interview with him where he said he respects me a lot, that I'm a great champion, and I say the same about him. We'll put on a great show. I can visualize the scene. Sure, there will be a lot of training before, but imagine if I'm the only guy who submitted Fedor, ‘Minotauro' and Velasquez? Then I would retire and work only as a commentator."

Forget the feather. That's the whole bird in your cap.

Werdum has a pretty tough task ahead of him. Velasquez looked dominant against "Cigano" at UFC 166 last weekend (Oct. 19, 2013) in Houston, Texas (video replay here), distancing himself from the rest of the 265-pound pack with his eleventh win by way of knockout/technical knockout.

Then again, the Brazilian has a history of upsetting the apple cart.

See you next spring.