Brazilian jiu-jitsu Black Belt Fabricio Werdum appeared to be in over his head when he signed to fight the legendary fighter from Russia, Fedor Emelianenko.
Werdum (14-4) didn’t waste any time in locking Emelianenko up in a triangle choke shortly after he was dropped 30 seconds into Round 1. “The Last Emperor” tried to fight it off but succumbed to the pressure of the two-time ADCC world heavyweight champion’s submission, tapping out 1:09 into the round.
The former UFC and Pride veteran will be fighting this weekend at Strikeforce in Dallas, Texas. His opponent is top-10 heavyweight and current Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem (34-11). The three-round bout will not be for the title, but it will be for a spot in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix semifinals.
The quarterfinal bout will be a rematch of their 2006 fight where Werdum submitted the “Demolition Man,” who is the only fighter to have held championship titles in both kickboxing and MMA at the same time. Since that loss, Overeem has gone 11-4, with three of those losses coming within a year of submitting to Werdum.
The other quarterfinal bout includes Brett Rogers vs. Josh Barnett, which will be broadcast on the same card.
Don’t forget to check out Sal DeRose’s “knockout of the day” article, here!
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