Add Fabricio Werdum to the list of UFC fighters Dana White does not get along with.
Dana White has said time and time again that you don’t have to be his best friend to fight in the UFC. And according to the UFC boss, that holds true for former heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum.
White said he and Werdum “do not have a good relationship — at all.” He didn’t reveal exactly since when this has been the case, or what initially negatively affected his relationship with the Brazilian. But Werdum’s recent controversies certainly seem to be a factor.
Werdum has been in the headlines for more than just his October and November victories over Walt Harris and Marcin Tybura, respectively.
In September, just days before UFC 216 (where he tapped Harris out but at the time was scheduled to face Derrick Lewis), “Vai Cavalo” was involved in a verbal altercation with Tony Ferguson at a UFC media luncheon. During fight week of his UFC Fight Night 121 main event opposite Tybura in Sydney, Australia earlier this month, Werdum had a run-in with Colby Covington and threw a boomerang at the welterweight contender. Covington is pressing charges against Werdum, who has a court date scheduled for December.
“It’s just a continued … this is what this guy does,” White said of Werdum at a media scrum Wednesday (via MMAjunkie). “He almost fights Tony Ferguson at the media luncheon. There’s a laundry list of me and Werdum.”
White said he took the Covington altercation very seriously, adding that Werdum had no excuse for what he did, despite what Covington said about Werdum’s home country after an October win in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
“I don’t laugh. That’s not funny,” White said. “I get it that Colby disrespected Brazil and all the Brazilian people, and I know how Brazilians get about that stuff. But you can’t go around assaulting people. You just can’t do it. It’s bad.”
White said he has chosen not to talk to Werdum lately, but his relationship with the No. 2-ranked heavyweight could change in the near future.
“When I was driving here today to meet you guys, Werdum texted me and said, ‘I want to come out and I want to meet and I want to sit down.’ I haven’t been willing to meet with him for a while now,” White said. “And I texted him back and said, ‘Let’s do it.’ So me and Werdum are gonna sit down and try to hug and make up.”