Did he or didn’t he?
Prior to losing to fellow Brazilian heavyweight Renan Ferreira, former UFC champion Fabricio Werdum insists “Problema” tapped to a triangle choke. And credit to “Vai Cavalo,” the slow-motion replay suggests Ferreira did indeed throw in the proverbial towel.
Or perhaps not.
“In slow motion, it looks like I tapped. But when you play the video in normal speed, you cannot say that it was a tap,” Ferreira told Combate (transcribed by Adam Martin). “The referee was on top, on the side looking. He said he loosened it, but he did not loosen it at any time. His triangle was not well fitted, it was on the tip of the foot. His foot was almost on his calf, he hadn’t fit the triangle very well, you know? He didn’t let go, he didn’t let go, and I kept striking, you can see that at no time do I stop striking.”
Werdum and Ferreira kicked off the PFL heavyweight tournament last Thurs. night (May 6, 2021) on ESPN (get complete results and play-by-play here). And there was more on the line than just wins and losses, as the PFL tourney awards its champions a $1 million prize.
Ferreira, however, appears to have moved on.
“I am very sad with this version that he is telling, he is talking shit,” Ferreira continued. “I have a clear conscience. It is already his attitude to speak of character, of not being a man, of this or that, it is his posture. I have the full conception of what I did. My conscience is clear, I have my head up and let’s go to the next one.”
Team Werdum is expected to file an appeal.