Fabricio Werdum is one of the top-five heavyweight fighters in the world, but if you ask me, the UFC isn’t utilizing his in-cage talents like they should be.
Fabricio Werdum has been tapped to appear alongside Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira as coaches on season two of “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil.” The two heavyweights will coach 16 welterweight fighters on the show, which is expected
to begin taping in January and air in March, with the finale taking place next June in Brazil.
Now, my problem doesn’t necessarily come with the matchup, because it’s definitely an interesting fight. First off, it’s a rematch, as Nogueira decisioned Werdum in the quarterfinals of the 2006 PRIDE Open Weight Grand Prix, so that automatically makes things interesting. Add in the fact both are incredible Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighters with impressive standup, and this has all the makings of an intriguing style matchup.
In addition, I do believe both Nogueira and Werdum will be excellent TUF coaches, meaning the prospects on the show get the most out of their TUF experience. And while I don’t believe there will be any real tension between the two easygoing fighters, I do expect them both to provide some laughs for the Brazilian TV audience that the show is targeted to, as well as those of us hardcores worldwide crazy enough to watch on UFC.tv (the use of his infamous troll face will no doubt make Werdum a fan favourite for life).
The biggest problem I have with this announcement is that this fight likely won’t take place until next June, which means Werdum will go a year between fights – he last competed against Mike Russow at UFC 147, knocking the American out with ease – despite the fact he’s completely healthy and, at 35-years old, isn’t getting any younger (it’s crazy to think he’s 35 and Nogueira is 36, considering the physical appearance of each fighter).
This TUF coaching assignment and the year-long, in-cage layoff it creates, combined with Werdum’s two UFC matchups thus far against non top-10 heavyweights Russow and Roy Nelson, is an under-utilization of one very talented heavyweight fighter.
Recall that Werdum was the No. 1 or No. 2 heavyweight in world as recently as two years ago, when he vanquished the legendary Fedor Emelianenko in historic fashion, submitting the Russian in one of the biggest upsets in MMA history. That was in June of 2010. After that, with Strikeforce – just like the UFC – not knowing what to do with him, they waited and then booked him against fellow top-five heavyweight Alistair Overeem in the quarterfinals of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix, which took place in June 2011. The fight, which was greatly hyped, turned horribly disappointing, with Overeem taking a decision in a fight in which Werdum kept flopping on his back to coax Overeem into his guard, despite the fact that he was surprisingly outlanding the hulking Dutchman on the feet.
Although Werdum was eliminated from the Grand Prix, things weren’t all so bad, as the UFC then decided to give him a second chance, booking him against Nelson in the co-main event of UFC 143, which was the ‘Fight of the Night’ of the event, and a bout he took via unanimous decision. You’d think that would have landed him an opponent higher on the heavyweight totem pole, but no, the UFC decided to give him Russow in a squash match in Werdum’s native Brazil, and Werdum – who is improving rapidly as a striker – TKO’d Russow in the first round.
Despite Werdum and his camp calling for a title eliminator bout, the UFC is instead giving him Nogueira, who, while a top-10 heavyweight, isn’t in the title mix at this point in his career. It’s a fight that really doesn’t get Werdum closer to a title shot, and with the timing of it all, actually pushes him further away from one, especially if Cain Velasquez loses to Junior dos Santos, Overeem gets the next title shot, and Strikeforce transplant Daniel Cormier gets the one after that.
Of course, Werdum gets a good payday out of it, and he does get another fight booked, but again, his manager wanted him to get a fight in January or February, and now he’ll have to wait until June. For someone who’s in his fighting prime to not get fights all that often just seems like a waste, as is the fact he’s not fighting guys like Overeem, Cormier, or Frank Mir, but hey, I guess the UFC needed two TUF Brazil coaches, and Werdum and Nogueira were the only guys available.
We should have known Werdum wouldn’t be quickly pushed towards a title shot, considering how his prior UFC run ended with the shocking KO loss to a then-unknown dos Santos at UFC 90, when Werdum was arguably next in line for the heavyweight title, but I honestly thought the UFC would recognize that now, years later, he’s a better fighter and a legitimate title contender. Judging from the way he’s been booked so far, though, it seems as though the UFC doesn’t rate him as highly as the rest of us seem to do, and since, at the end of the day, the only thing that matters is what the UFC thinks, expect Werdum to have to defeat Nogueira and then someone else if he’s to finally get the UFC title shot he dearly craves.
Werdum IS one of the best HW's around these days,
total egg against Overeen not withstanding.
But that loss was actually more Werdums doing then anything Overeem did.
The reason he will be squandering his time in the peripheral of the HW division is because of the time that he wouldn't take dana's pay cut after the Dos Santos loss,
because dana and joel silva are pathetic vengeful little men.
Pitting Couture is a fight that he couldn't win against Lyoto was another example of their revenge for when Randy had previously walked away.
And forcing Jones to have to finally fight chael and tying up the whole 205 division just to prove that he can get his way was just another example among many of his pettiness.
dana has become bad for the sport.
But as long as the ufc is where all the MMA money is Werdum, could do worse then earning a living in anonymity on the undercard.