Fabricio Werdum returns to the UFC at Saturday night's UFC 143 for the first time since losing to Junior dos Santos at UFC 90 in October of 2008. Werdum will square off with Roy Nelson in the night's co-main event in a fight that will elevate one man's stock and put them closer to title contention.
Werdum spoke to Globo recently and spoke about his plans to take the fight to Nelson (translation by Orcus):
I can tell you that he'll need to keep his hands up, because a knockout might happen. He'll need to keep his hands way up, in high guard. I think I'll hit his legs a lot. Roy Nelson is very tough and can endure a lot of beating, he showed that against [Junior dos Santos], but there's always a weak spot. I'll try to look for that flaw during the fight. I think I will win with agility and mobility. I am well mentally, as well as physically, much faster and this will be determinant in this fight, due to the fact that he's slower, a fatty.
It will be a very strategic fight. It's my return to the UFC, it will be very important to me. When I have the opportunity to KO or submit, I will do it. I don't like to win by points, it happens sometimes, but my prevision is this: knockout or submission. The main thing is the victory. My mom always tells me that the important thing is to raise the arm in the end (laughs).
The "fatty" line was said in a joking way, to be clear. It wasn't meant as a direct insult.
Nelson does leave some openings on the feet and we did see Werdum get some shots in on Alistair Overeem, I wouldn't be surprised at all to see him want to turn this into a three round fight on the feet.
0 recs | 100 comments
Got Werdum KO’ing Nelson late in the 2nd round
chavez_26 - January 31, 2012
lolololol so Werdum will KO a guy that even JDS couldn't?
Rob Young - January 31, 2012
Arlovski could and werdum has some pretty heavy hands
chavez_26 - January 31, 2012
Since when?
He’s a heavyweight with 4 KO/TKO wins in 20 fights. If anyone’s getting knocked out in this affair its gonna be the cock guy.
Dave Strummer - January 31, 2012
But he outstruck Overeem!
lolol
WheelieMonkey - January 31, 2012
Arlovski got some help from the ref.
Rob Young - January 31, 2012
LOOK AT HOW BRAVELY WERDUM TRADES LEATHER IN THE POCKET
Connoisseur - January 31, 2012
am i crazy...
or is that left hook lightning fast once overeem lets it go?
tha dude - January 31, 2012
Yeah, he has a nasty left hook
ElliotMatheny - January 31, 2012
If JDS couldn't do it...
I don’t know how Werdum would manage.
skeebop - January 31, 2012
The only way
Would be if Nelson has taken so much cumulative damage that his chin is beginning to fade, but we haven’t really seen any signs of that.
wonderfulspam - January 31, 2012
More likely
That he could hurt Nelson with strikes and then jump on a submission. I don’t see a finish happening here for either guy, though.
Patrick Wyman - January 31, 2012
Well, it was a response to the comment about Werdum KO’ing Nelson. A sub isn’t totally unlikely but I agree with you that it looks like a decision.
wonderfulspam - January 31, 2012
Yeah
Both guys have pretty ridiculous chins. They’ve both been knocked out exactly once.
Patrick Wyman - January 31, 2012
Werdum is good in the clinch
If he knocks him out, it’s in the clinch with a knee
discoandherpes - January 31, 2012
that's funny
biggant - January 31, 2012 via mobile
I don't see Werdum KO-ing Big Country, no way!
Roy can take a punch. Especially from Werdum. I don’t even thing Werdum can submit Roy – I think this fight has decision written all over it.
@KatanaClothing - January 31, 2012
How are you going to raise your arm when Roy's broken it? HUH? HUH?!
menckenstein - January 31, 2012
Lucky for him he has 2 arms.
And he’ll only need one to put fatty away.
POW - January 31, 2012
Sigbet?
menckenstein - January 31, 2012
Sir, I accept. Name your terms.
POW - January 31, 2012
POW – Chosen fighter Fabricio Werdum
menckenstein – Chosen fighter Roy Nelson
Valid from – End of UFC 143 until end of UFC 144 (so other sigbets may occur)
Anything goes provided it doesn’t break the BE bylaws?
menckenstein - January 31, 2012
Signed! Excellent...
POW - January 31, 2012
apparently I’m doing a Simpsons thing today.
POW - January 31, 2012
A pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Faust
menckenstein - January 31, 2012
Nelson by flying armbar
Shaun32887 - January 31, 2012
Would love to see a Werdum victory here.
POW - January 31, 2012
elite grappler vs elite grappler, eh? I predict a crappy kickboxing match.
Hopefully, a big country overhand right will prove me wrong. I’m still mad at Verdum for praying during the AO fight for AO to dive into his guard. Silly.
Ziggy325 - January 31, 2012
Werdum talks an absolutely fantastic game, and then the bell rings.
sheikybaby - January 31, 2012
StevenGiles - January 31, 2012
ah i remember that guy....
Rob Young - January 31, 2012
Ears flapping like he was going to take flight
menckenstein - January 31, 2012
GOLLY
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - January 31, 2012
One of my fav uppercuts of all time
along with this one!
Cocytus - January 31, 2012
Here's my favorite.
Andy Davis - January 31, 2012
I forgot that Thiago did this to Koscheck!
I was at this fight, too. Koscheck was out for a split second – BOOM!
@KatanaClothing - January 31, 2012
Yes! Thats the triumverate of uppercuts!
Cocytus - January 31, 2012
Got to love the commentary
Rogan: Paul Thiago has to pull guard. He has nothing for Kos on the feet. He is going to get knocked out. He needs to pull guard because
Goldberg: IT’S ALL OVER! PAULO THIAGO KNOCKED OUT JOSH KOSCHECK!
discoandherpes - January 31, 2012
This is an all-time classic uppercut
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmxVi3Q4Xdc
Verklemptomaniac - January 31, 2012
Who’s the fatty?
dribblebib - January 31, 2012
Guy on the wrong end of the uppercut?
Werdum in JDS UFC debut.
Sweet Scientist - January 31, 2012
I didn't realize Werdum actually grazed JDS' chin with that punch.
Could have been bad for JDS if it actually connected better, since he was wide open, throwing that uppercut from hell.
pud333 - January 31, 2012
Hard to throw a good hook moving backwards
Dave Strummer - January 31, 2012
Verdum needs to work on his wrestling
He is god but not elite in the clinch and taking opponents down(as we saw against JDS and AO), I can’t see Nelson winning this fight but Frank Mir or Cain will expose his lack in wresting again
couch-fighter - January 31, 2012
He’d probably rather be god than elite anyway. I would.
skeebop - January 31, 2012
I think it's pretty obvious that anybody would rather be god
Mjub - January 31, 2012
Frank Mir’s good at wrestling now?
lolumad - January 31, 2012
Word
discoandherpes - January 31, 2012
Wait...
Are you implying that Frank Mir HAS wrestling? XD
Jack Slack - January 31, 2012
Mir got a lot better at wrestling since his losses to Brock & Carwin
it is pretty much visible in his fights with Mirko, Nelson and big Nog
couch-fighter - January 31, 2012
He couldn't take Mirko down and got outmuscled by Nog...
Both wash ups
Jack Slack - January 31, 2012
I don't think it's too embarrassing to be handled by Nog.
lolumad - January 31, 2012
not only that if Mir did not hit that Knee in the late 3rd he was on his way to loosing a 29-28 decision from the looks of the judges score cards. Mir is so lucky he hit that Knee a loss to Mirko at this stage of his career would of been bad for Frank.
And I remember Mirko actually out wrestling Mir that whole fight. Mirko stoped stoped every dam sloppy shot frank took with basic underhooks and ripping away. wrestling 101
Shocbomb - January 31, 2012
What ?
Shocbomb - January 31, 2012
good ...typo
couch-fighter - January 31, 2012
This fight is tailor made for Nelson
Werdum’s chin isn’t that great and Nelson hits like a truck.
Combine that with the fact that he won’t be afraid to go to the ground? Dominant Nelson Decision.
HeadKickLegSweep - January 31, 2012
lol, maybe, I think you might be overselling Nelson just a tad.
lolumad - January 31, 2012
you mean TUF WINNER ROY NELSON
Nah, I’m not. Werdum’s got some hands are JUNK.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cZ_2cGK8Kc
HeadKickLegSweep - January 31, 2012
ugh I can't write
Werdum’s got some JUNK hands/ Werdum’s hands are JUNK*
HeadKickLegSweep - January 31, 2012
Uh
Werdum’s chin isn’t that great? He’s been knocked out exactly once, by the current champion. Otherwise, he’s survived two fights with Overeem and one with Kharitonov, Arlovski, Fedor, and Bigfoot without getting KO’ed.
Patrick Wyman - January 31, 2012
Key word being survived
You don’t think Nelson’s hands are heavy enough to put him out?
HeadKickLegSweep - January 31, 2012
No
Nelson has solid power, but he’s hardly JDS. Every guy that Nelson’s knocked out is either a) not very good (Brad Imes, Fabiano Scherner) or b) not known for having a great chin (Schaub, Struve). Additionally, Werdum’s much longer than Nelson, and tends to throw a fair number of kicks and straight punches; if this does turn into (relatively) bad kickboxing, it’s going to be hard for Nelson to get inside and throw his haymakers. I have a really hard time seeing exactly how Werdum loses this fight, to be honest.
Patrick Wyman - January 31, 2012
This.
I don’t really see how Nelson wins this. I don’t think he lands that big overhand on Werdum. Werdum by decision.
Sweet Scientist - January 31, 2012
"Survived"
How many other guys can say the same thing?
Patrick Wyman - January 31, 2012
Let's get serious
Bigfoot, Arvloski, and Khartinov aren’t exactly top contention. Fedor win was impressive, sure, but Werdum hasn’t done much else other than that.
HeadKickLegSweep - January 31, 2012
That's some outstanding revisionist history there
Arlovski was two fights removed from the heavyweight championship and his chin hadn’t deteriorated; Bigfoot was a top prospect, with a 13-1 record at the time they fought; Kharitonov was 12-1, with his only loss to a prime Big Nog. Let’s go over this again: he submitted Overeem, beat Gabriel Gonzaga twice, once when he was a top-10 guy, and SUBMITTED FEDOR. He’s a legit top-10 and possibly top-5 heavyweight.
Patrick Wyman - January 31, 2012
oh
and NOT getting knocked out by Overeem isn’t exactly an accomplishment
HeadKickLegSweep - January 31, 2012
Starting to think you're trolling here
Or just completely and utterly uninformed. He’s the only fighter to take Overeem to a decision in five years and sixteen fights. He also outstruck Overeem, and FightMetric had him as the winner in that fight.
Patrick Wyman - January 31, 2012
not really trolling
but my Werdum hate is a little strong.
Well not hate, he just talks such a big game and never backs it up. And that second match with Overweem was such a huge let down. Can’t forgive him for that.
HeadKickLegSweep - January 31, 2012
Understandable
It’s just how he is; he really enjoys trash-talking his opponents (and his friends, too, for that matter). The second Overeem fight wasn’t a lot of fun to watch, but part of that has to do with him injuring his knee at the start of the second round when Overeem Thai-dumped him.
Patrick Wyman - January 31, 2012
He didn't outstrike Overeem. Striking tallies for that fight are very deceptive.
The numbers may say he landed more sig. strikes, or something to that effect, but Overeem’s significant strikes were doing much more damage, often sending Werdum to the canvas.
What would you consider more effective? A four punch combination that lands, but is shrugged off, or a knee strike to the head that drops the target?
lolumad - January 31, 2012
I'm 99% sure
We’ve had this exact same discussion at least once, and possibly twice. To sum up, I think he landed more strikes (not of the “shrugged off” variety, either), had Overeem moving backwards for almost the entire fight, and lost himself the fight with his guard-pulling. You disagree, and we don’t need to rehash this again.
Patrick Wyman - January 31, 2012
I just can't believe you think he would've won without the flopping and butt-scooting.
That’s insane.
lolumad - January 31, 2012
I really don't want to have the same discussion yet again
But dropping down every time Overeem landed a strike made it look like he was getting knocked down, when in fact he wasn’t. That’s a large part of what creates the perception that Overeem’s shots were landing particularly hard. In the absence of that perception, Werdum outlanded him and had him moving backwards for the majority of the fight; this is simply not debatable.
Patrick Wyman - January 31, 2012
Werdum’s perplexing fear is what confirms the power of Overeem’s shots.
Bolshevik - January 31, 2012
all I remember from that match
is some scooting and Werdum pleading with Overeem to come to the ground.
Really wish Overeem would’ve done a Mendes front flip haha
HeadKickLegSweep - January 31, 2012
Mark Hunt Butt Bomb!
soilworker - January 31, 2012
This.
I think Werdum has one of the best chins in the heavyweight division, alongside Big Country of course.
Sabate - January 31, 2012
I'll wait until the weigh ins to change my pick from Nelson
halitosis - January 31, 2012 via mobile
Good call.
I’m interested to see if Big Country has managed to slim down any more since his last fight. He looked (for him) pretty darn lean against Cro-Cop – I wonder if his masterplan is to gradually keep cutting until he can make light-heavyweight?
@KatanaClothing - January 31, 2012
That's my reasoning
Also to see if Werdum looks any stronger or slimmer. It could go either way, but right now I have Nelson taking a decision over Werdum.
halitosis - January 31, 2012 via mobile
Uh oh...
Werdum tries to prove himself on the feet and gets knocked out, which is the only reason JDS was able to catch him too.
Jack Slack - January 31, 2012
I bet Flopbricio returns.
MicahtheCynic - January 31, 2012
Roy's gonna get him reel good
menckenstein - January 31, 2012
I was thinking the same.
“my prevision is this: knockout or submission”………..or the dreaded flop technique
OmoPlata - January 31, 2012
I also love the way fighters always say things like “I hope he has a good camp” or “I hope he’s working on his striking” “He better watch out for my striking”. Surely it would be better for them if their opponent had a shit camp and didn’t train their striking etc. So many fighters say these same old tired things
StevenGiles - January 31, 2012
I'm sure Roy is worried about your awesome ko power. lmao
biggant - January 31, 2012 via mobile
I got big country all day on this one
Werdum doesn’t have a prayer
CrazyHandsCam - January 31, 2012
Yeah, you’re right. Werdum has no prayer despite the fact that he has beaten much better strikers in career, while Nelson has Ko’s over such iron-chinned behemoths as Struve and Schaub.
Also, this:
GIFSoup
Ak.Death - January 31, 2012
I'll take Werdum...
In a 3 round snooze-fest… I hope I’m wrong…
Engelson71 - January 31, 2012
You're pretty much right I think.
3 rounds of bad kickboxing.
Sweet Scientist - January 31, 2012
Ikuhisa Quinoa - January 31, 2012
haha
RandyCouture'sDivorceLawyer - January 31, 2012 via mobile
Top 3 verdicts are...
1. Bad kickboxing match with decision win.
2. Werdum outstrikes Nelson, gets the sub
3. Nelson knocks Werdum TFO.
IF THEY ARE SMART:
Werdum kicks Nelson’s legs out from under him and pounds him out for a TKO
Nelson baits Werdum to the ground, lays that belly on him and gets the TKO.
They both may have great chins, but Nelson has HW knock out power, whereas Werdum has Bispingfists; a standing fisticuffs can only favor Roy. Werdum needs to use his reach to knock those chicken legs out from underneath that belly, then crucifix Roy FTW. Roy needs to anticipate those leg kicks, move inside for some power punches and drag Fabricio down, fighting him like a wrestler, all ground and pound, not try to outsubmit him.
RobtWeaver - January 31, 2012
I doubt either of them gets stopped with ground strikes,
unless they’re seriously rocked from a big shot standing.
Connoisseur - January 31, 2012
I doubt Fabricio can knockout Nelson
but just because JDS couldn’t doesn’t mean it’s impossible.Everything seems impossible until it’s done.
Un Sandpiper - January 31, 2012
oh, Fabricio!
Victor Rodriguez - January 31, 2012
Roy Nelson is incredibly overrated
Werdum by arm removal
SSreporters - January 31, 2012
Now I could be wrong,
but didn’t he say something along these lines in the build up to his fight with Overeem?
dgonzalez305 - January 31, 2012
Nelson should be able to blast him, at least I hope so
Werdum won’t finish him. He got rocked like all hell against JDS and Mir and still went the distance.
rockyman500 - January 31, 2012
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