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Fabricio Werdum is almost ready to return, and his coach has an opponent in mind already.
Fabricio Werdum might be 42, but he’s not done with MMA yet. The former UFC heavyweight champion has been on the sidelines since early 2018 due to a USADA suspension, and it was thought that his career might have been ended the day that the hammer was dropped. But that doesn’t appear to be the case.
Werdum is free to fight in May, and according to his coach, Rafael Cordeiro, he has his eyes on a rematch with Junior dos Santos. Cordeiro spoke to Combate and summed up Werdum’s situation:
“We believe that 2020 will be a great year with the return of our champion and will surely return to fight for the title. His fight with Cigano would be very interesting. I don’t know about him, but on Werdum’s side it’s something he’s wanted to do for a long time. When Werdum was champ, it didn’t make much sense. Now with both of them coming off defeats, it would be interesting.
“If you have a problem, solve it in there and do what you have to do. They are two great athletes and a rematch would be a good fight for the champion.”
Werdum was knocked out by Dos Santos in the latter’s UFC debut way back in 2008. Will they run in back 12 years later? That might depend on the outcome of Cigano’s next bout, a main event fight against Curtis Blaydes at UFC Raleigh in January.