Tag: fabricio wedurm

Derrick Lewis Explains Why Fabricio Werdum Hand-Picked Him For UFC 216

Despite the fact that Derrick Lewis announced his retirement from mixed martial arts (MMA) following his loss to Mark Hunt earlier this year, the hard-hitting heavyweight has decided to return to competition as he is set to fight former UFC heavyweight Fabricio Werdum at UFC 216 If you recall, Hunt was calling for a fight […]

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Despite the fact that Derrick Lewis announced his retirement from mixed martial arts (MMA) following his loss to Mark Hunt earlier this year, the hard-hitting heavyweight has decided to return to competition as he is set to fight former UFC heavyweight Fabricio Werdum at UFC 216

If you recall, Hunt was calling for a fight against Werdum. However, the promotion decided to book Lewis against Werdum, who is a jiu-jitsu specialist. This fight decision did not sit well with Hunt as he went to social media to voice his opinion about the fight and blast Werdum for being a “filthy coward dog.”

When Lewis spoke with Ariel Helwani of The MMA Hour, he was asked about the fight and according to Lewis, Werdum hand-picked him as an opponent. He thinks that the UFC thought it would be an easier path to the win column.

“I was surprised because I heard Mark Hunt asked for Fabricio and Fabricio said, basically, that he didn’t want to fight him,” said Derrick during a recent interview on The MMA Hour (transcript courtesy of MMA Mania.

“I guess that same week, they called me and said Fabricio wanted to fight me. He hand-picked me. I guess he thinks I’m the easier fighter because of the way I performed against Mark.”

At the end of the day, Lewis doesn’t think it’s a sign of disrespect but rather, he is just continuing his journey of being the underdog and undervalued as an overall MMA fighter.

“It don’t matter, I’ve been underestimated my whole career. Guys don’t believe in my skills and stuff like that. I don’t care. I’m going to go out there and show him what’s up,” added Lewis.

Hunt is set to fight Marcin Tybura in the main event of UFC Fight Night 121 on Nov. 18. The event will air live on FOX Sports 1 from inside Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia.

On the flip side, UFC 216 is set to take place on October 7th at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The preliminary card will air on the promotion’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass, as well as FOX Sports 1. The main card will be broadcasted on PPV. The main event for the upcoming show has yet to be officially announced.

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Ben Rothwell Out Of UFC 203 With Knee Injury

The co-main event of UFC 203 has taken a major hit. According to MMA Junkie’s Steven Marrocco on Twitter, No. 5-ranked heavyweight Ben Rothwell has pulled out of his scheduled contest against Fabricio Werdum citing an unfortunate knee injury. The UFC is reportedly seeking a replacement opponent for Werdum now: Ben Rothwell has sustained a

The post Ben Rothwell Out Of UFC 203 With Knee Injury appeared first on LowKick MMA.

The co-main event of UFC 203 has taken a major hit.

According to MMA Junkie’s Steven Marrocco on Twitter, No. 5-ranked heavyweight Ben Rothwell has pulled out of his scheduled contest against Fabricio Werdum citing an unfortunate knee injury.

The UFC is reportedly seeking a replacement opponent for Werdum now:

Rothwell (36-10) comes off of a unanimous decision loss to Junior dos Santos at UFC Fight Night 86 back in April, he was previously riding an impressive five-fight win streak before suffering the disappointing loss.

Werdum (20-6-1) is fighting to re-enter the title picture after suffering a brutal first round knockout loss to Stipe Miocic in Brazil, dropping his heavyweight strap in his first career UFC title defense.

‘Vai Cavalo’ had previously choked out former champion Cain Velasquez in the third round of their main event meeting at UFC 188, where Werdum secured the undisputed heavyweight throne.

Now it seems Werdum will have to sit back and await a new challenger that the UFC is currently searching for to step in on one month’s notice to face the former champ.

One viable candidate is the former heavyweight king Velasquez who is coming off of an impressive showing against Travis Browne at UFC 200, in which he finished ‘Hapa’ in the first round of the heavyweight contest.

Velasquez would certainly love a shot at redemption against Werdum who took his title away from him, and added insult to injury by doing so in front of his native crowd in Mexico City.

What are your thoughts? Could Velasquez step in on one month’s notice and contend with Werdum for the next shot at the heavyweight title?

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