Fabricio Werdum
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Name | Fabricio Werdum |
| Nickname | Vai Cavalo | |
| Association | Chute Boxe Academy / Werdum Combat Team | |
| Weight Class | Heavyweight | |
| Height | 6' 4" (193 cm) | |
| Style | Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai | |
| Birth Date | July 30, 1977 | |
| Fighting Out Of | Porto Alegre, Brazil | |
| Country | Brazil | |
| Fabricio Werdum Pictures | Official Website |
Fabricio "Vai Cavalo" Werdum is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who competes as a Heavyweight. He currently is signed with Strikeforce.
He is a two-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Champion, 2007 ADCC World Heavyweight Champion, and European Jiu-Jitsu Champion. He has a Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and a Brown Belt in Judo. He has competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) as well as PRIDE. Werdum taught Mirko Filipovic Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, when Filipovic needed ground-game training.
Werdum will go down in history as the first man to hand Fedor Emelianenko a legitimate loss (as Fedor's other first loss was due to an illegal cut), coming by way of Triangle Armbar at their bout at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum. Werdum is also the only person to ever defeat both Fedor and his brother Aleksander Emelianenko.
Contents |
Professional Record
| Record | 16 - 5 - 1 (Win – Loss – Draw) |
| Wins | 5 (T)KOs 8 Submissions 3 Decisions |
| Losses | 1 (T)KOs 0 Submissions 4 Decisions |
| Result | Opponent | Method | Event Title | Date | Round | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | Mike Russow | TKO (Punches) | UFC 147: Silva vs. Franklin 2 | 6/23/2012 | 1 | 2:28 | |
| Win | Roy Nelson | Decision (Unanimous) | UFC 143: Diaz vs. Condit | 2/4/2012 | 3 | 5:00 | Fight won Fight of the Night |
| Loss | Alistair Overeem | Decision (Unanimous) | Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum | 6/18/2011 | 3 | 5:00 | World Grand Prix Heavyweight Tournament Quarterfinal |
| Win | Fedor Emelianenko | Submission (Triangle Armbar) | Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum | 6/26/2010 | 1 | 1:49 | |
| Win | Antonio Silva | Decision (Unanimous) | Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers | 11/07/2009 | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Win | Mike Kyle | Submission (Guillotine Choke) | Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg | 8/15/2009 | 1 | 1:24 | Strikeforce debut; Originally slated to fight Alistair Overeem for the Strikeforce Heavyweight Championship |
| Loss | Junior dos Santos | TKO (Punches) | UFC 90: Silva vs. Cote | 10/25/2008 | 1 | 1:21 | After the fight he was not re-signed by the UFC |
| Win | Brandon Vera | TKO (Punches) | UFC 85: Bedlam | 6/07/2008 | 1 | 4:40 | |
| Win | Gabriel Gonzaga | TKO (Punches) | UFC 80: Rapid Fire | 1/19/2008 | 2 | 4:34 | |
| Loss | Andrei Arlovski | Decision (Unanimous) | UFC 70: Nations Collide | 4/21/2007 | 3 | 5:00 | UFC debut |
| Win | Aleksander Emelianenko | Submission (Choke) | 2H2H: Pride & Honor | 11/12/2006 | 1 | N/A | |
| Loss | Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira | Decision (Unanimous) | PRIDE: Critical Countdown Absolute | 7/01/2006 | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Win | Alistair Overeem | Submission (Kimura) | PRIDE: Total Elimination Absolute | 5/05/2006 | 2 | 3:43 | |
| Win | Jon Olav Einemo | Decision (Unanimous) | PRIDE 31: Dreamers | 2/26/2006 | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Loss | Sergei Kharitonov | Decision (Split) | PRIDE 30: Fully Loaded | 10/23/2005 | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Win | Roman Zentsov | Submission (Triangle Armbar) | PRIDE: Final Conflict 2005 | 8/28/2005 | 1 | 6:01 | |
| Win | Tom Erikson | Submission (Rear Naked Choke) | PRIDE 29: Fists of Fire | 2/20/2005 | 1 | 5:11 | PRIDE debut |
| Win | Ebenezer Fontes Braga | KO (Punch) | JF 2: Jungle Fight 2 | 5/15/2004 | 2 | 1:28 | |
| Win | Gabriel Gonzaga | TKO (Punches) | JF 1: Jungle Fight 1 | 9/13/2003 | 3 | 2:11 | |
| Win | Kristof Midoux | Submission (Triangle Armbar) | WAFF 2: World Absolute Fight 2 | 3/22/2003 | 1 | N/A | |
| Draw | James Zikic | Draw | MB 8: Millennium Brawl 8 | 9/22/2002 | 3 | N/A | |
| Win | Tengiz Tedoradze | Submission (Triangle Choke) | MB 7: Millennium Brawl 7 | 6/16/2002 | 1 | N/A | |
Biography
Born in Porto Alegre, Brazil, Werdum started training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu after a recommendation from his ex-girlfriend. He trained with Marcio Corletta at the Porto Alegre academy, Winner Behring. After success in competitive Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Submission Wrestling, he started his career in MMA. He arrived in Spain, to join his family who had moved to the city of Madrid, some years before. At the age of 17, soon after his arrival to Spain, when he was just a purple belt, he started spreading the art of BJJ in Madrid and other cities of Spain, and despite training with white belts, he became BJJ World Champion, being promoted to the rank of black belt by Silvio Behring 3 years later.
Mixed Martial Arts Career
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 standout Gabriel Gonzaga.
PRIDE Fighting Championship Career
In 2005, Werdum made his PRIDE debut against Tom Erikson, winning by submission. He accumulated a record of 3-1 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, Antonio 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.
UFC Career
Until November, 2006, Werdum was the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu coach to Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic and is associated with Team Werdum BJJ Academy, located in Zagreb, Croatia. Werdum is currently training with the Chute Boxe Academy.
Fabricio Werdum debuted in the UFC on April 21, 2007 at UFC 70: Nations Collide. He faced former UFC Heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski, losing a close decision. He began to train in Brazil at Chute Boxe and became a more agressive fighter. At UFC 80 on January 19, 2008, Werdum rematched Gabriel Gonzaga. Werdum won the bout by TKO. Werdum's next fight came at UFC 85 against Brandon Vera. He defeated Vera by a somewhat controversial TKO in the 1st round. Werdum had mount with less than 30 seconds to go and delivered a number of unanswered shots to Vera. 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.
After this win, Werdum was promised a title shot, but with Randy Couture coming back into the promotion, Werdum was pushed back to the background of the Heavyweight picture.
Instead of a title shot, his next fight was at UFC 90, where Werdum was highly touted to win the fight but he was KO'ed by the underdog Junior dos Santos when Santos threw an uppercut just as Werdum was ducking his head. Werdum was subsequently released from the UFC.
Strikeforce Career
After being released from the UFC, Werdum stated that he was in negotiations with both Strikeforce and Affliction MMA promotions. He made an appearance at Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Diaz on April 11, 2009, issuing a challenge to Strikeforce's Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem. Soon after, Werdum signed with the promotion, and in early July 2009 the Championship bout was set to take place on August 15, 2009 at Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg. Unfortunately, a hand injury that Overeem received in a bar fight, that had forced him out of his June 6, 2009 fight, persisted, and also forced him to withdraw from his first title defense.
Mike Kyle stepped in to replaced Overeem, though the fight was not for any title. Werdum showed up, in what can be considered, the best shape of his life. The fight did not last long, as Werdum made quick work of Kyle, though he almost got caught with an Armbar, submitting Kyle with a Guillotine Choke.
Werdum returned to action on November 7, 2009 at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers against another top-tier Heavyweight, former EliteXC Heavyweight Champion Antonio Silva. The bout went to the judges' decision, and Werdum was awarded the unanimous decision. At the post-fight press conference Werdum stated that he was interested in fighting the winner of the headlining Heavyweight bout that occurred that night, Fedor Emelianenko, as well as current Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem. Overeem and Werdum were supposed to face off for the title previously, until Overeem was injured and was forced out, though Werdum would still like a shot at him.
- “I do not think Alistair is ducking me, (but) I think that Alistair is ducking fighting in the United States,” stated Werdum. “(In his defense though,) Alistair does not choose his fights, his management does... I already beat Alistair," Werdum continued, "so I am not terribly interested in fighting him again. He does hold the belt, and I want the belt, so unless he gives it up, I am (only) interested in fighting him for that reason.”
When asked who he would like to face, if he were given a chance to fight someone he had already fought, Werdum responded by saying he would like to face Andrei Arlovski again.
- “If I had a chance to fight someone that I fought before, it would be (Andrei) Arlovski. I don’t know if Arlovski would fight though, because I think he is just interested in being on TV and showing his arrogant face.”
In the end, Werdum signed on to face "The Last Emperor" Fedor Emelianenko on June 26, 2010 at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum. In an enormous upset victory, Werdum forced Fedor to tap via Triangle Armbar at 1:09 into the first round. Within 30 seconds of the opening bell, Emelianenko unloaded a heavy-handed combination that stunned Werdum and sent him tumbling to a seated position. Emelianenko dove in and rained down a barrage of hammerfists, but an alert Werdum quickly secured an Armbar to slow the attack. Emelianenko immediately broke free of the hold, but perhaps overly anxious, he again found himself trapped by an Armbar and accompanying Triangle Choke. Werdum torqued the choke and armbar for nearly a half minute until a nearly unconscious Emelianenko finally relented and tapped out.
The victory ended Emelianenko's 28-fight unbeaten streak while propelling Werdum's status up the Heavyweight rankings. He is now next in line to face Alistair Overeem for the Strikeforce Heavyweight Championship. The fight will actually be a re-match, as the two faced off against one another back in 2006 under the PRIDE banner, where Werdum won by Kimura.
Grappling Credentials
- ADCC World Submission Wrestling Championships
- ADCC 2009 99 kg+: 1st place
- ADCC 2007 99 kg+: 1st place
- ADCC 2005 99 kg+: 3rd place
- ADCC 2003 Absolute: 3rd place 99 kg+: 2nd place
- Record of opponents:
- Won: Dennis Roberts (pts), Daniel Gracie (pts), Reese Andy (pts), Tsuyoshi Kosaka (pts), Jehad A Hamdan (pts), Mike Van Arsdale (pts), Matt Lindland (armbar), Akira Shoji (pts), Marcio Cruz (pts), Elvis Sinosic (sub), Karol Bedorf (sub), Darren Andy (sub), Rolles Gracie (4-0, two takedowns), Mario Rinaldi (sub), Rogent Llorent (pts), Saulo Ribeiro (pts), Robert Abreu (pts)
- Lost: Marcio Corletta (pts), Jeff Monson (pts), Roger Gracie (sub), Marcio Cruz (pts), Alexandre Ferreira (pts), Andre Galvao (pts)
- CBJJ World Championships
- 2004 Black Belt Pesadissimo: 1st Place
- 2003 Black Belt Super-Pesado: 1st Place Black Belt Absolute: =3rd Place
- 2002 Brown Belt Super-Pesado: 3rd Place
- 2001 Purple Belt Absolute: 2nd Place
- 2000 Blue Belt Super-Pesado: 1st Place Blue Belt Absolute: 1st Place
- CBJJ Pan American Championships
- 2003 Black Belt Super Super Heavy: 3rd Place Black Belt Absolute: 2nd Place
- 2002 Brown Belt Super-Pesado: 1st Place
- 2001 Purple Belt Super-Pesado: 1st Place Purple Belt Absolute: 1st Place
- CBJJO BJJ World Cup
- 2004 Black Belt Pesadissimo: 2nd Place Black Belt Absolute: 3rd Place
- 2003 Black Belt Belt Pesadissimo: 2nd Place
Personal Life
Fabricio is married and has one daughter with his wife Karine.
