The BJJ black belt returned to the Octagon this month with an important victory over Roy Nelson at UFC 143 and is now preparing to serve as Wanderlei Silva’s jiu-jitsu coach on “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil.” Speaking this week with Sherdog.com, Werdum gave his thoughts on the Nelson fight, why he thinks “Big Country” could flourish at 205 pounds, and his desire to fight on the UFC’s June card in Brazil.
Fabricio Werdum: The concern wasn’t with his tactics, but with our
own. I was very focused on training, and what inspired me was
Wanderlei’s victory over Cung Le [at UFC
139]. I was there and saw the very good communication between
[trainer] Rafael
Cordeiro, Andre Dida
and Wand. I looked up to that. I saw that Wand followed the tactic
strictly, because it was an important fight for him to win. So, I
wanted to do the same. What we planned on in training, we did in
the fight.
Werdum: I was expecting it. It’s a characteristic of Roy’s, to
withstand a beating. If there was another fighter who got cut like
that, they could be shaken. One thing I didn’t feel from him was
his strength. I don’t know if it was the diet or what he did to
lose weight, but his strength wasn’t what I expected. We were
sparring in the gym with Orlando
Sanchez; he’s very strong and 275 pounds, so we hired him. We
did a lot of clinch training, but in the fight, I didn’t feel
pressure from Nelson. I was careful of his right hand because, yes,
it’s heavy, but I didn’t feel his strength in the clinch.
Werdum: There’s nothing right now, but I’m pushing to fight at UFC
in Sao Paulo. I’ll make it happen. Since I’m part of Wand’s team on
“TUF,” it would be cool to fight at this event also, to complete
our work. You can do the “TUF” well and then fight.
Werdum: When I entered and the song played, I laughed. I like the
mood of the music, and it’s so popular in Brazil right now that I
thought of the crowd in Sao Paulo singing the song. I’m imagining
it in the UFC show in Sao Paulo. It would be like Paulo
Thiago’s entrance [at UFC 134 in Rio], where everyone sang
“Tropa de Elite.”
Werdum: I think he’s suited to be stronger at light heavyweight.
Maybe it’s just like Samson, cutting his hair and losing his
strength (laughs). He showed the world that he can be strong in any
category. He knocked out Brendan
Schaub and “Cro Cop” [Mirko
Filipovic]. He would do well in our division, but I think it’s
better for him to go to light heavyweight.