Heavyweight veterans Fabricio Werdum and Alistair Overeem faced off for a third time at this past weekend’s (July 8, 2017) UFC 213 from Las Vegas, Nevada.
They first fought at a Pride event in 2006 where Werdum scored a submission victory over “The Reem”. The rematch, which was won by Overeem, took place at a Strikeforce event in 2011, although it was a lackluster fight at best.
And the trilogy? Well, it wasn’t much better than the rematch. Werdum and Overeem battled it out for three rounds, although it was a rather uneventful affair. “Vai Cavalo” had Overeem hurt at one point, but he was unable to finish the fight, and ultimately ended up losing a somewhat controversial decision.
The former champion clearly wasn’t happy with the decision, and he now plans to appeal the loss:
“The athletic commission gives us a chance to appeal, so I want to see what happens,” Werdum told MMA Fighting. “I have the right to appeal because I don’t want this loss on my record. I’m sure I won because I won the first and the third rounds, and lost the second one.
“When I lose a fight I admit it, but this one… The crowd booed him, I received a lot of messages. Everyone saw I won. You saw my face after the fight, I couldn’t believe I lost. I was surprised.”
Not only will Werdum appeal the loss, but he wouldn’t mind fighting Overeem four a fourth time – as long it gets him closer to a title shot:
“A fourth fight would be good if I appeal and it doesn’t change the result,” Werdum said. “My goal is the belt, and if he’s on my way, I think it would be good to fight him a fourth time. I’d like to fight him a fourth time to show the reality, what really happened. I believe I won. If it’s worth it to fight a fourth time to get to what I want, the belt, that would be interesting, for him.
“I always say that a loss it three steps back and a win is one step forward, but the way it was, I think it was only one step back. I believe I won, but the official result was a loss. I have a loss in my record.”
Both Werdum and Overeem have lost to heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic in recent memory, but the bout was still being labeled as a potential eliminator, although UFC President Dana White wasn’t too impressed with Overeem’s performance either.
Werdum is unlikely to win the appeal, but he still plans on fighting again this year:
“I want to fight again this year,” Werdum said. “I was away from a long time and I don’t like that. I’d like to fight at least three times a year, that would be the ideal. I’d like to fight again in November, so I have enough time to rest after the training camp, enjoy my family for a while, and do a few things scheduled outside the cage in Brazil.”
What do you suggest the UFC do with Werdum, Overeem, and the heavyweight title picture?
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