(“I would have picked Joey Beltran or Pat Barry but they both just fought.”)
If you’ve been following the story on other MMA websites — and I don’t know why you would be since we thought you were our bros — Fabricio Werdum was rumored to be headed back to the UFC, but then he sort of denied the rumors and sort of didn’t by saying he couldn’t talk about it. Well, “Vai Cavalo” may have let the cat out of the bag that he’s Octagon-bound today since he’s now calling out UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub — an interesting choice for a guy who beat Fedor Emelianenko and went to a decision against Alistair Overeem in his past two bouts.
It’s worth noting that Schaub, who is coming off of a disappointing UFC 134 loss to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, put the seed in Werdum’s head. During a recent interview he did with ESPN about his inclusion in the next UFC Undisputed instalment, “The Hybrid” politely mentioned that Werdum is one of several guys he thinks fans would want to see him face.
“I was on a four fight winning streak with a big knockout over Mirko Cro Cop, and I wanted a challenge. I wanted to do something nobody else had done, and that’s fight Nogueira in Brazil. He’s considered one of the best heavyweights of all time and I knew it was going to be a challenge. It was definitely hostile out there and I that got me up for it, but I was a little too aggressive. He caught me with a good shot and my night was over from there. It was definitely the most disappointing loss of my career and it’s a tough one to swallow, but being a heavyweight in the UFC and at this world class level, you can’t make a mistake. I made a mistake and I paid for it. It’s part of the game. I’m a knockout artist, I’m not the type of guy who is going to go out there and ride out a decision, and I think that’s why I’m a fan favorite, but I learned my lesson that night. I’m already back in the gym working on some things, but where do you go after you’ve fought guys like Cro Cop and Nogueira? I think a match between me and Fabricio Werdum would be something the fans would be into. There are a number of good match-ups out there, but that’s the one that comes to mind right now.”