Props: Sherdog.com
Quoteworthy:
“I didn’t like that they put Brock Lesnar against Randy Couture. I think that it would be fair to put ‘Minotauro’ Nogueira against Couture — it had to be a fight between these two. Despite having been champion once, I’ve not found it fair that Frank Mir is fighting for the belt. I had two great victories where I was very superior to my opponents, Gabriel Gonzaga and Brandon Vera. I’ve won by myself — not the judges. So I think I would be the one to fight against ‘Minotauro’ or Couture, the winner between the two of them, for the belt. I’ve imagined that I would fight for the title in March. Let’s see what will happen. I hope to do my part fighting against ‘Cigano.’ I won’t underestimate him. I will win. It will be by knockout or a finish. I won’t give any opportunity for bad luck.”
Top heavyweight contender Fabricio Werdum — who recently scored consecutive wins over Brandon Vera and Gabriel Gonzaga — thinks it may have been unfair that Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir leapfrogged him as participants in the mini heavyweight title tournament that the promotion has put together to declare an undisputed division champion. Of course, Lesnar (former WWE superstar) and Mir (former champion) have bigger money-making potential than the relatively obscure (to the masses) and under marketed Brazilian. Werdum recently indicated that he was promised a title shot when he extended his contract. He’ll apparently have to wait. In the meantime, he will take on Octagon newcomer Junior “Cigano” dos Santos at UFC 90: “Silva vs. Cote” this Saturday in Rosemont, Ill., during a televised main card pay-per-view (PPV) bout.
78 Comments »
Shut-up or i’ll get the pit-bull back in the ufc to knock you out again
knocked out eh?
When did Arlovski knock him out. I fell asleep when they fought, but I’m pretty sure it went to decision. I agree with him. Its marketing B.S. If he acted like an idiot and yelled out ” Do you smell what the Fab is cookin’” after his fights, he might be offered a title shot.
The problem is that it is easy to fall asleep during any of Werdum’s fights. The Gonzaga fight was boring as well. The Vera fight was a bit of a quick stop, but I think Vera is actually more boring than Werdum, so I had no problem. Werdum does have a legitimate claim at the title, but he can’t sell tickets.
“Just bleed.”
Don’t even bring that fight up!! Not fair to judge Werdum on that fight, both fighters looked bad. Werdum was no doubt nervous in that fight and Andrei, well he wasn’t the pitbull that night, rather a poodle.
Why is Werdum not fighting for the title? The answer is very easy.
Does Fabricio sell tickets or PPV’s?
NO
Therefor, he is not fighting for the title
i love werdum but unfortunatly he doesnt sell tickets cause he has only had 3 fight in the ufc and one of em was a bore fest! but hopefully he beats dos santos and a credible oponent and he will get his shot because he is a great fighter
these guys with “2 quality wins” and no selling power need to realize one thing. Shit sells, freaks sell, old men sell,a respectful well rounded athlete, unfortuanately doesn’t! I’m old school, these dances in end zones, yelling after a dunk, why?? haven’t you done it before? isn’t it your job? aren’t you getting paid more than 99% of the other people in the country? shut the fuck up and play the game!
I wouldn’t call his win over Vera “quality”. Questionable ref stoppage over an undersized heavyweight fighter who is 1-3 in his last 4 fights is not what I call quality.
thats why i put it in quotes
At the time it was a quality win. Vera had only lost then to Timmy. But yeah the stoppage was bad, but still, I’d take the win, and count it.
I really do think Werdum is getting screwed. I mean, when you look at the “tournament” what name doesn’t belong? BROCK LESNAR. Werdum should be fighting Randy, not him.
The Vera win was solid. He mounted Brandon with over a minute and a half left in the round. THat is an eternity to be mounted. Same guys who think the Vera mount-gate shouldnt have been stopped aret he same ones crying when Kimbo was allowed to continue after being caught in the crucifix for 2 minutes! Make up your mind guys!
Werdum is a very good Heavyweight. With every fight in the UFC he gets better! I do understand that he doesnt sell tickets so he cant fight for the title yet, but the UFC isnt doing him any favors by matching him up with Tough fighters that no one knows about like cigano. Continue to give him big named opponets so that if he wins, fans will know and respect him.
I know the whole Marketing thing plays a MAJOR role in the sport, but i feel for deserving fighters who get the shaft for guys like Kimbo
Werdum is a Force in the Future. He is to be taken SERIOUS and I am a big fan of his
Werdum has a point, in terms of skills there’s no way he should have been omitted from the four man tournament. But he has only one 2 of 3 fights in the UFC and isn’t very marketable yet. The UFC is a business and he needs to realize that and start calling people out. Just sitting back and assuming that the UFC will reward fighters based on merit is the wrong attitude to have.
Off topic, but who do you think should be Shane Carwin’s next opponent? I think it’s time for him to step up in competition and I’d like to see him fight Gonzaga after he (in all likelihood) next fight. He would be a step up and a great test for Carwin.
My first comment didn’t post so I’ll write this again. Werdum does have superior skills to both Lesnar and Mir so he has a right to be upset. That being said, the UFC is a business and they’re going to put together the more marketable matches. Werdum needs to realize this and start calling out fighters he wants to face instead of assuming all decisions will be based on merit.
Off topic, but who do you guys think should be Shane Carwin’s next opponent? I’d like to see him step up in competition and face Gabriel Gonzaga. After Gonzaga competes at UFC 91 I’d love to see him give Carwin his biggest test and see where both fighters are at.
questionable stoppage or not, he was still handing Vera his ass in that fight. Vera who had recently KOd Mir, who somehow gets a title shot, still.
Werdum has the best BJJ in the UFC heavyweight division (yes, even over Nog), and is becoming a lot more well rounded. I’d pick him above Lesnar, Couture, or Mir in that tournament. His only problem is that he doesn’t sell tickets.
I am a big fan of Werdum but to say that he has the best jits in the UFC is crazy! Nog proved his mma jits to be superior to Werdums, when they fought in 2006 Pride tournament. No one has better mma jits then Nog, not at heavyweight at least!
YO everybody don’t panic. Werdum degree of inability to not sell PPV’s isnt THAT bad, it may delay and let people cut in front of him, but not stop him forever, im confident after this 4 man tourny is over, he will be next, summer of ‘09 or a tad later will probably be HW title fight featuring Werdum, mark my words!!
hes right. You that are saying brock is more markeatable, were the same ones whinning why kimbo was getting headline status over others. Same situation. So you all should be fuming that brock is fighting and not someone like werdum, right? the double standard is sure being applied quite nicely here isnt it?? So next time u hear dana say how much different he is than other promoters or and crap like that, dont be so naive that hes any different. It should have been randy vs nog and werdum vs brock.
no, I’ve been very vocal about kimbo AND brock…difference is, brock has always wanted to fight top competition. I respect a guy who with no football experience, goes to try out in the NFL, no MMA experience, goes to the UFC to fight former and current champs with no “grooming” fights.
Kimbo is just a…well anyways he’s marketable, to a different audience, the type of audience that loves free, ghetto shows, coming from college arenas, but would NEVER buy a ppv!
Brock is much more legitament and can actually compete, he has just not paid his due time wise, and in number of fights, thats why this is not as bad as Kimbo headlining.
Two great victories? Only one was legit. It was a terrible ref stoppage against Vera. You know it, too. That’s why you are too chickenshit to take a rematch with him.
Werdum would have done the same thing in the second round. Have you actually watched Brandon Vera fight anyone recently?
I found the ref stoppage to be legit. However, this particular stoppage puts the definition of ref stoppage into question. When can a ref stop a fight? “When a fighter can’t intelligently defend himself” – right? How about a fighter who is defending himself, but is unable to be offensive (Vera). Should Vera have been allowed to ride out the rest of the round? This is a tough one.
Rematch for the title with a guy that defeated you or fight a guy you beat because a ref may have screwed up. Yea chickenshit for sure. He’s way more worthy of being in there than Mir or Lesnar.
Jeez stop bitching. This guy wants to be handed a title shot because what? He has 2 wins in a row, wow. Yes it’s unfair that Lesnar & Mir got them before you but they are well known and you’re not Werdum. So instead of bitching about it why dosn’t he earn his title shot and win more fights.
He has a right to bitch and so do a lot of fighters who have work twice as hard to get a title shot just because they are not as r or fan favourites it pisses me off that Mir and Lesner have these shots but this is what the UFC has become, and it is just one of the reasons I hope another organization like Affliction can compete to hopefully give fighters a fair and unbiased chance at a title shot.
Yeah but has he really worked all that hard? 2 Wins. Psh now if he had won 8 fights in a row like Jon Fitch then i’d say he’s got a right to bitch but he hasn’t.
Since when is life, or organizations or anything else for that matter fair?
Quit bitching and go to work. Things will shake out. Those are wasted breaths.
Werdum does deserve a shot more than Mir or Lesnar but he really is not all that marketable. The plain fact that he has already lost to the champ (Nog) also is not good for him. I really think they should have put Werdum in for Lesnar but they probably wanted Couture to have a better shot so they gave him a lesser experienced fighter.
Call me crazy, but I think that Werdum would have been an easier fight for Couture than Brock Lesnar.
That ain’t crazy. That is truth. The last time Randy fought a similar fighter to Werdum was Gonzaga, he destroyed him. Brock is more like Randy, but younger, faster, bigger, stronger, ect…
wrong werdum is not like gonzaga he has great judo and judo will be randy’s Achilles heal if they fight
Do you know how to read? I said similar. Is Werdum more like Lesnar or Gonzaga? That’s what I thought, troll…
lol. agreed. werdum is a better match-up for randy than brock. i mentioned this yesterday, does anyone want to see werdum/randy over brock/randy. maybee a few supposed “hardcore fans” ahem! werdum is lucky the ufc didnt cut him after his running-man impersonation against a.a. and he was getting his butt kicked until gonzaga gassed and he did kinda benefit from an early stoppage with vera. still one has to give him props for those wins. oh well. he’s still a very talented fighter with a bright future, but he’s gonna have to do a little more. if he beats dos santos, he is guranteed a title shot in his contract, but probably wont get it until fall? of next year. should he wait or should he fight again? i think he should wait it out imo.
If you really think about it he has the easiest road to a title shot. He was gaurenteed a title shot with a win over Dos Santos, right. So consider it a 6 man tournament. He got the easiest draw of everbody. All those 4 guys can clean everything up and he can step in and, boom, he can be the undisputed champ if he wins.
BNF. true!
great point BNF. He should be thankful he’s not fighting Lesnar.
I agree and disagree, Werdum might be easier but he is a skilled vetern with very real skills. Lesnar has not shown any stand up and has ground control and powerful ground and pound but he’ll keep the fight where Randy wants it. Either way I think its a tough test for Randy but the good part is if Randy beats Lesnar he still has to face Nog or maybe Mir.
I like the part where you said “maybe Mir.” Classic.
Werdum is a serious fighter and when he gets his chance, I can totally see him pulling off a victory against Nogueira, Couture, or Lesnar.
I cannot see him getting lucky against anybody in the tournament.Randy would ground and pound him,Nogueira,has he not already beat him twice,and Brock would send his ass flying worse than he sent Herring.His place is right where he is ,on the outside looking in .If I am not mistakin,Mir was also coming off of winning a couple of fights,and he is a former champ.Randy is just Randy ,Brock is a monster,who is willing to fight anybody,and of course NOG is the champ ,so Werdum is where he should be
Nog beat him once. It was actually a good fight. Nog avoided the ground game for the most part, and won the standup, dropping Werdum twice.
And Werdum would sub the shit out of Lesnar. I know a lot of tuf noobs think Mir is the god of BJJ, but he is nowhere near Werdum.
i do think Werdum would beat Randy, but that is a very tough fight style wise for him. Randy has much improved sub defense, the wrestling to dictate where the fight stays, and then there is always the clinch game. I could see him dirty boxing the shit out of Werdum like he did with Gonzaga.
The Nog fight would probably go similar to the first one.
dude is right on.
Werdum deserves the title shot more than Lesnar or Mir, but since he’s a relative unknown to the masses, Dana and the UFC went for the PPV buys instead of merit (again). I could see Werdum beating Lesnar, Mir or Couture, and even make for a great rematch with Nogueira.
i dont dislike fabricio, but he’s just not the type of fighter that draws fans. i think the only one out of all the hw contenders that he’d beat would be mir. which isnt saying too much in my opinion. lets face it… we all know nogiera’s gonna kill mir. and also, not that im defending vera but werdum sure as shit wasnt “far superior” to vera in that fight. that was just poor judgement on the refs part. that fight never should have been stopped when it was. what is he superior because he mounted vera??? who cares… shit happens. there was 15 seconds left and vera was gonna ride it out. get over yourself werdum.
I think Werdum is whining a little too much. However, he’s right about Lesnar, there’s an entire list of top fighters that deserve a title shot before Lesnar (especially being 1-0) regardless of the money to be made–if it’s all about the money you can’t really call it a ’sport’, you need to earn these things. Both Nogueira and Mir being coaches on TUF puts a wrench in the works because:
1. Interim champ should always get first crack at the belt.
2. Coaches of TUF always fight after the season is done, and which is sometimes for the belt.
So what SHOULD happen? Who’s to really say! But I think Dana is messing up here, all he sees are dollar signs (which is a big part of it) but it shouldn’t be at the expense of sportmanship. You don’t see NFL or NHL teams skip each other because the owners think it will bring in a bigger crowd/more money! Either it’s a sport with fair competition or it’s WWE, Dana is deciding that right now!!!
Sorry, 1-1.
Werdum needs to have some patience. It’s not like he has 4 wins in a row against top fighters. Look how long Chuck had to wait for a title shot when Tito was pulling all his B.S.
I love the ufc like but it has to get a proper ranking system because their’s been a few folk who have just come in and had a title shot, a few deserved them but a few didn’t i.e lesnar. Marcus Davis had 10 (i thnk) wins in and out the octagon and he didn’t get a no.1 contender shot or even thought of in title contention, but beacuse we have some idiot with a shitty tattoo on his body that folk notice he’s in title contention. Sure it sells tickets but it’s not really fair the athletes that climb the ladder dont get no where.
Correct….but since UFC is not the Court…..or the house of justice…
don’t the WWE give title shoots to the most popular wrestler or whoever sell mor PPVs?
From a business point of view that is a great move…UFC is a business after all and Dana and Lorenzo are there to make money….without loosing credibility.
From the other side….there might be other fighters that deserve title shoots more than than Lesnar…. Is your call to say who.
Werdum = BORING, BORING, BORING, BORING, BORING, BORINGBORINGBORINGBORINGBORING BORING,BORING,BORINGBORINGBORINGBORINGBORINGBORINGBORINGBORINGBORING
Come again?
He should have talked about finishing his fights after talking about Noguiera, not Mir. Mir finishes his more often than not. Werdum…man..you’re good but I don’t want to see you fighting for the belt anytime soon. I didn’t wanna see Lesnar fighting for the belt at all but we can all see where the entertainment value of the UFC is going now. Either be a coach on a season of TUF, start a pro wrestling career (hang with Josh Barnett), or wait your turn. One more thing: Frank Mir deserves it.
Brack = Star in the US
Werdum = Boring new kid of the block.
I agree with Werdum. UFC is about PPVs and $. That’s why we have Forrest Griffin as LH champion, not Lyoto who has far better skills.
Dude, Forrest is part of the family. His fight with Bonnar took the UFC up. Lyoto came from brasil and will have his title shot soon. It took ages for Griffin to be where he is now, and Lyoto(a great but boring fighter) what to dominate the world. Calm down my friend.
Lyoto is not complaining. His shot will come. however, forrest is legit. i didnt even think the rampage fight was even close, total domination.
DON’T FORGET ABOUT “CHEECH” KONGO!!!
You can see where he’s comin from but just be careful with the complaing
Look what happened to Tito and what Dana said about Huerta
Just do a Florian and keep winning so you can’t be denied
bro werdum sucks man hes boring as shit why do u think he hasnt gotten a title shot same thing when he fought arlosvki since arlosvki one he was supposed to get the title shot but andrei was so boring he gave it to gonzaga who one by ko
I respect Werdum fighting ability..but hes a snooze to watch. I dont look forward watching him live at the Allstate arena, but maybe well get lucky and hell get knocked out. I think Ill take a pee break or get an autograph for something during his fight.
I respect Werdum fighting ability..but hes a snooze to watch. I dont look forward watching him live at the Allstate arena, but maybe well get lucky and hell get knocked out. I think Ill take a pee break or get an autograph for something during his fight.
I respect Werdum fighting ability..but hes a snooze to watch. I dont look forward watching him live at the Allstate arena, but maybe well get lucky and hell get knocked out. I think Ill take a pee break or get an autograph for something during his fight.
I would rather see Werdum v Couture than Brock, because I like Randy and want him to have a chance. Brock is going to crush him I fear.
As for Werdum more deserving than Mir. Well I hate Mir, but he was never defeated for his title, he was stripped, so he deserves to be up there. (Can’t believe I just said that)
You are right on about Mir ,and I can’t stand him ,but he deserves his shot.Like I said earlier ,this set up exactly how it should be,Werdum does not deserve to be in this tournament,plus he has the easiest match to get the title shot.The rest actually have to beat somebody.Wow he beat Vera he thinks that should have got him in.Mir pulled off a victory against Brock ,Brock sent Herring flying (you know the guy that dominated Congo,who would have been in this if he would have not got destroyed by Brock)Randy never lost his belt,Nog has the belt.We have 3 HW champs and the next big thing in this thing ,and we got oh but i beat Gonzaga and Vera, look at me I should be in this thing, on the outside ,looking in, with i might add with a free ride to fight the winner of this thing.
Yeah I would much rather have to beat the winner of this, than try to beat two of these guys. Werdum should count his blessings, win his fight, and take on the winner of it all.
Werdum is possibly the most boring HW in UFC. No belt for you.
I’m a little confused with the BETus gambling chart at the side of the page, who do they have as the favorite in the Randy, Brock fight, Brock?
I didn’t see the betus one, but bodog is -125 Brock -105 Randy. That means that brock is the favorite. Keep in mind that lines are not made based on how they think will win, they are made to get even bets on both sides.
Werdum is the most passive aggressive fighter beside’s Machida in the planet. Any fight of his will probably be boring unless they put him with Brock or Randy. I say give him a chance.
Put him against the loser of the tournament and if wins he gets a title shot.
Werdum is right…minatouro should be the one to fight randy cotoure…i wonder what sport is controlled by just one person.which is Dana.no ratings board whatsoever.the demise of elite x dosent help because it gives dana more leverage with the fighters and industry…its against mma being mainstream… mainstream fans(not hardcore fans) would get turned off with this kind of management
Okay. Just to clarify, Joe Silva makes the match ups, not Dana White. Also, Nog should fight Randy. You are right. But with TUF 8, Mir can’t be replaced in that fight. Plus, Randy is running out of time. That is why he gave up on the courts. He wanted to fight ASAP and he needed to fight ASAP. Werdum vs Couture just doesn’t excite the fans like Couture vs Lesnar. A guy like Kimbo would likely have no chance whatsoever against a guy like Randy or the former EliteXC heavyeweight champ even.
Dana is a hypocrite….acording to him standgate destroys the sport because they just think of ppv’s when they want kimbo to win…
then whats the bottomline of him putting Brock?? PPV,s also…in danas mind”screw werdum screw noguiera wwe has strong ppv and they would watch Brock and pay big….total disrespect for the sport as far as long term effects!!! good for short term money wise..
so what if these fighters are boring.whats the point of putting ratings if you wont use it anyway…
Couldn’t agree more. Lesnar doesn’t deserve a title shot, Dana only cares about the $$.
Brock Lesnar is about the most over-rated fighter in the UFC right now. He’s an amazing wrestler and has tremendous knock-out power. I just don’t think it’s enough. I don’t know why people are in awe of him.
okay he says he wont underestimate him then says the only way he will lose is by luck, sounds like underestimating to me..
ya great. put werdum in a main event. time to get up and buy another beer.
Werdum is definitely a top 5 guy. Couture, Lesnar and Noguira belong up there. I think Arlovski is still a top contender but Emelianenko is friggin awesome and may KO him.