Former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum fights Alexander Gustafsson who is moving up to heavyweight, on the main card of UFC on ESPN 14 on Saturday. And with that, his eight-fight UFC contract signed after beating Cain Velasquez for the title runs out.
During a recent interview with Brazil's Ag Fight, "Vai Cavalo" was asked if he intends to renew UFC contract thereafter.
“There’s no possibility," said Werdum, as translated by Lucas Rezende for BE. “All those years with the UFC have been good. We had a good relationship. We disagreed sometimes, but those things happen in a normal relationship. I’m thankful to the UFC for all these years. It’s practically where I made my career. I’ve always wanted to join the UFC and they gave me that opportunity twice. I was fired and asked to come back because I kept bothering them about it. But the cycle is over.
"It was a good cycle so far. Now I want to move on with my career, I want to do it my way. Maybe I’ll fight for a different company, I’ve fought for many of them, I want to have choices.”
There is a widespread belief that the UFC gives athletes fighting out their contract particularly tough matchups, and the odds are long here, but Werdum explained that he asked for Gustafsson.
“It’s really important,” he said. “Especially because I chose him. I had some choices and I chose Gustafsson because he’s a well-known guy. He has a name in the MMA world. He made a name for himself at light heavyweight. I wanted this fight to be important. I didn’t want it to be just another fight, against some beginner. The most important thing is to win, to have a good outing. I’ll do my best, I feel well. I want to leave through the front door.”
Werdum's time in the UFC, as he alluded to, has not always been smooth. He was suspended for two years by USADA, retired making the suspension toll indefinitely, but was it reduced to ten months when he provided Substantial Assistance. In 2016, he complained about The Reebok Deal, and posted an image with the Nike logo photoshopped over Reebok's, and shortly thereafter was fired from his commentary job on the UFC's Spanish language broadcast. When he was knocked out by a debuting Junior dos Santos at UFC 90 in 2008, he was cut by league. but wasn't informed so initially denied it as a rumor.
Still, Werdum is not holding any grudges, but is eager to embrace other possibilities, which could include devoting more time to his Werdum Training Center in Venice, California.