It’s pretty clear that former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum wants his title back. However, he is going to have to earn it, and it won’t be easy as he must get past his immediate UFC 213 challenge.
Although, Werdum is not looking past Alistair Overeem. Werdum currently ranked as the #1 contender in the UFC rankings for the heavyweight division and he expects that if he can beat Overeem at the upcoming event, then he can secure a title bout.
“After this fight, I want to fight for the title again,” Werdum recently told MMAjunkie at a media day promoting the event. “This is my big goal. When I fought in jiu-jitsu competition, with a gi, I got the world championship twice. With grappling, at ADCC, I got it twice, too. Now, I have one UFC championship. I want one more, (to make it) two-two-two. I like the numbers, you know?”
Werdum won the interim title by defeating Mark Hunt back in 2014 then he unified it the following June by submitting longtime titleholder Cain Velasquez with a submission in the third round of their UFC 188 headliner.
Werdum was a solid champion as he held the title for less than a year before he went up against Stipe Miocic at UFC 198 in Brazil. Although Miocic was an underdog coming into the bout, he proved the doubters wrong by beating Werdum to capture the title.
Werdum sees the title-costing loss to Miocic as more of a mental lapse than anything else and obviously, he sees a different scenario for a rematch.
“With the Stipe Miocic fight, I was very emotional,” Werdum said. “I was very excited. It was in Brazil, in a stadium, 45,000 people were there. I lost my focus. I lost it. I had five rounds to beat him, and I went out there like a crazy (man). I respect Stipe Miocic, for sure, but that time in the fight I didn’t see what happened.
“I ran in, and he just countered, just touched my chin. Very smart, too. Maybe in the next one, there’ll be a big difference. I want to be patient. Because five rounds is a lot, 25 minutes. And he knocked me out in two minutes, I don’t know, but it was very quick. Why did I go out there like a crazy (man)?”
When looking closer at their original meeting, Werdum looks at it like this. He has been the more evolved fighter of the pair. That evolvement is the hope behind Werdum’s belief in his theory.
“My opinion, my feeling is that I’ve changed a lot,” Werdum said. “The first time, I knew just jiu-jitsu. But now, I train muay Thai. I think I’m a very complete guy today. He’s very smart when he fights, but I don’t think he changed his game in everything. Like, a complete difference. He changed a little bit because he has a lot of experience, that’s it.”
UFC 213 takes place July 8 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Werdum and Overeem meet on the pay-per-view main card following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.
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