#4
Fabricio Werdum
"Vai Cavalo"
Record: 14-4-1
Age: 33
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 239 lbs
Fighting out of: Porto Alegre, Brazil
Style: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai
Werdum's early fights were with the promotions Jungle Fight, Millennium Brawl, and World Absolute Fight. He boasted a 4-0-1 record, including a win against BJJ specialist Gabriel Gonzaga. He was Mirko Filipović’s sparring partner at that time and the Croat was the main reason for his debut in Pride.
In 2005, Werdum made his Pride debut against Tom Erikson, winning by submission. Later that year he faced Roman Zentsov in Pride Final Conflict 2005, he was able to defeat Zentsov by a Triangle choke in 6:01 of the very first round. Werdum then had his very first loss in his MMA career, when he lost to Sergei Kharitonov via split decision in Pride 30. Then in early 2006, Werdum defeated Jon Olav Einemo by unanimous decision in Pride 31.
He accumulated a record of 3–1 in Pride before entering the 2006 Pride Open Weight Grand Prix. His first match of the tournament was against Dutch fighter Alistair Overeem, winning via kimura in the second round. He then faced former Pride FC heavyweight champion, Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira in the quarter finals, losing via decision.
Fabricio then had a short stint in 2 Hot 2 Handle, facing Aleksander Emelianenko in a Heavyweight bout, beating the Russian by submission via arm triangle choke.
Fabricio Werdum debuted in the UFC on 21 April 2007 at UFC 70: Nations Collide. He faced former UFC Heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski, losing a unanimous decision. He began to train in Brazil at Chute Boxe and he is now more aggressive, showing improvement in striking, particularly his Muay Thai. At UFC 80 on January 19, 2008, Werdum met Gabriel Gonzaga in a rematch. Werdum won the bout by TKO. He weathered an early striking onslaught only to secure the Muay Thai clinch and connect with several knee strikes before taking Gonzaga to the ground and finishing him with punches. Werdum's next fight was against Brandon Vera at UFC 85. He defeated Vera by TKO in the 1st round. Werdum achieved full mount with less than 30 seconds to go in the round and connected with a number of unanswered punches. The decision to stop the bout was booed due to the small amount of time remaining in the round, although the official time of stoppage was 4:40.
At the UFC 100 Fan Expo event in Las Vegas, July 2009
In his next fight at UFC 90, Werdum was heavily favored to win but was KO'ed in 1:20 of the first round via uppercut by Junior dos Santos. After the loss Werdum's contract was terminated by the UFC.[11] Since Werdum was not contacted directly about the termination he had no idea he had been cut and initially denied the news of him no longer being in the UFC as just a rumor
Werdum is currently signed with Strikeforce.[5] He made his debut at Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg on August 15, 2009, against fellow UFC veteran Mike "MAK" Kyle. He won by submission in 1:24 of the first round. Werdum followed that up with a unanimous decision victory over Antonio Silva at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers.
Werdum faced former Pride FC heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko on June 26, 2010, at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum. In an enormous upset victory, Werdum forced Fedor to tap via triangle/armbar 1:09 into the first round.[13][14] The victory ended Emelianenko's 28-fight unbeaten streak [13][15] while propelling Werdum's status up the Heavyweight rankings. He is currently ranked as the third best Heavyweight in MMA by Sherdog.[16] The victory over Fedor also gave him the distinction of being the only man to hold victories over both of the Emelianenko brothers.
A rematch with Alistair Overeem is expected to take place on June 18, 2011, at Strikeforce: Dallas and will be part of an eight-man heavyweight tournament.
