Fabricio Werdum is a former UFC Heavyweight champion of the world. He is the first man who defeated Fedor Emelianenko via submission.
Athlete Statistics
| Full Name: Fabricio Werdum | ||
| Born Name | Nickname | Age & DOB |
| Fabricio Werdum | Vai Cavalo | Fabricio Werdum is currently 46 years old according to his date of birth July 24, 1977. |
| Fight Stats | Height | Weight |
| 23 Wins // 9 Losses // 1 Draws | 6 ft 4 in or 193 cm | 249 lbs (113 kg) |
| Reach | Fighting Style | Association |
| 77 inches (196 cm) | BJJ, Muay Thai, Judo | UFC, Team: Akhmat Fight Club |
| Nationality | Net Worth | Born Place |
| Brazilian | $1 Million | Porto Alegre, Brazil |
Profile
Fabricio Werdum is the master of various strikes in the stand-up game. His favorite combination is left jab-right cross-left hook, which is sometimes followed by a kick to the body. His ultimate weapons are also right uppercut, right high kick and switch kick, and a flying knee. If you take a look at his stance, you will notice his front leg sways up and down in Muay Thai style, while his hands are positioned a bit lower. Sometimes he throws a spinning backfist and a spinning wheel kick.
In the clinch, Werdum tries to utilize a knee to the head or a front kick to push the opponent against the fence, where he delivers with two or three punches to the body which are usually followed by a head attack. He is a master of double leg takedown and kosoto gari (small outer reap). Fabricio is extremely dangerous when you try to take him down via double leg since he has a perfectly timed guillotine choke counter.
Vai Cavalo is a 2nd-degree black belt in BJJ, a black belt in Judo, and a black belt in Muay Thai. He is a submission specialist. His most successful submissions are triangle armbar (3 victories) and armbar (2 victories). Fabricio Werdum also has great transitions, and sometimes he lands straight punches, hooks, and hammer fists of the top position.
Fabricio Werdum – Record
Fabricio Werdum shares the first place with six other fighters, including Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir, in most Heavyweight title fights won via submission – 1. He is on the first place for the latest submission victory in a Heavyweight title fight (UFC 188, third round, 2:13).
He holds the third place as the third oldest UFC champion – he was 38 years and 290 days old when he lost the title. Werdum is ranked fifth for the highest significant strike percentage, with the score of 56,85%.
Road To The Top
Fabricio Werdum joined the UFC with the score of 9-2-1. He had his MMA debut versus Tengiz Tedoradze at Millennium Brawl 7 on June 16, 2002, and he won the fight via triangle choke in the first round. As he was climbing in rankings, he was slowly changing his style and improving his striking.
Before UFC debut, he fought at PRIDE Fighting Championship, where he defeated Alistair Overeem and Alexander Emelianenko, but lost to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
Fabricio Werdum – UFC Career
Fabricio Werdum had his UFC debut versus Andrei Arlovski at UFC 70 on April 21, 2007, and he was defeated via unanimous decision.
In the rematch versus Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 80 on January 19, 2008, Werdum rocked him early on, secured the Muay Thai clinch and delivered few brutal knee strikes which sent Gonzaga to the ground. After few punches, the referee stopped the fight and Vai Cavalo won via TKO.
Werdum earned one more successful victory against Brandon Vera at UFC 85 on June 7, 2008.
Junior dos Santos defeated Werdum at UFC 90 on October 25, 2008, via first-round KO. This is Fabricio’s quickest loss of the career – the fight lasted only 1 minute and 20 seconds.
Other Promotions:
Fabricio Werdum joined Strikeforce, where he defeated Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva and Mike Kyle, but was defeated in a rematch by Alistair Overeem. Vai Cavalo also shocked the world when he finished Fedor Emelianenko in the first round via triangle armbar!
Fabricio Werdum – Second UFC Run
Fabricio Werdum returned at UFC 143 on February 4, 2012, when he fought Roy Nelson. The Brazilian competitor controlled the match via tremendous striking and won via unanimous decision, earning his first and only Fight Of The Night bonus.
His next victim was Mike Russow, whom he won via TKO at UFC 147 on June 23, 2012.
Vai Cavalo had his first fight in the main event of the evening at UFC On Fuel 10 on June 8, 2013, when he made another big surprise by winning Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, one of the best BJJ submission specialists, via armbar in the second round.
Fabricio Werdum Vs Travis Browne 1
Fabricio Werdum has proved one more time that he is the worst choice for oddsmakers in the match against Travis Browne at the main event of UFC On Fox 11 on April 19, 2014. As soon as the fight opened, Werdum started to strike in the style of Buakaw Banchamek, the best Muay Thai fighter of all time.
Travis Browne didn’t have the solution for jab-cross-hook and body kicks which his opponent was landing with an ease over and over. Despite being a big underdog, Werdum won the fight via unanimous decision (49-46, 50-45, 50-45).
Fabricio Werdum Vs Mark Hunt – Interim Title Shot
Werdum should fight Cain Velasquez at UFC 180 but Cardio Cain pulled out of the fight citing injury, so UFC officials scheduled a match between Werdum and Mark Hunt. The two fought on November 15, 2014.
Hunt dropped him with the punches early on, but Fabricio survived the barrage and landed a flying knee to Hunt’s head in the second round, knocked him down and finished him via punches, earning his first Performance Of The Night award.
Fabricio Werdum Vs Cain Velasquez – UFC Heavyweight Title Fight
The fight was rescheduled for the main event of UFC 188 on June 13, 2015, in Mexico City, Mexico. Cain Velasquez tried to shoot in at the middle of the third round but Werdum countered and finished him via guillotine choke, winning his second Performance Of The Night award.
Fabricio Werdum Vs Stipe Miocic – Title Loss
Werdum should initially defend the title at UFC Fight Night 82 versus Cain Velasquez who pulled out due to an injury. He was replaced by Stipe Miocic, but Werdum gave up on the day of the fight citing injury, so the match was rescheduled for UFC 198 on May 14, 2016, in Curitiba, Brazil.
Motivated by his home fans, Fabricio Werdum attacked Miocic early on with a flurry of punches but he dropped his left hand and Stipe knocked him out via a right hook in the first round.
Fabricio Werdum Vs Travis Browne 2
The two faced again at UFC 203, on September 10, 2016. As soon as the fight started, Werdum landed flying side kick to Hapa’s head. Werdum dominated with his striking again and won Travis Browne via unanimous decision.
As soon as the fight ended, Travis’ coach Edmond Tarverdyan entered the octagon and insulted Werdum, who kicked him via left push kick and raised his hands to defend himself. The cornermen had to enter the octagon and separate the two of them. There were no disciplinary measures against the Brazilian superstar.
Other Fights:
Vai Cavalo should face Ben Rothwell two times and Cain Velasquez once but the fights were canceled due to opponent’s injuries and doping issues. He finally faced Alistair Overeem for the third time at UFC 213 on July 8, 2017, and lost the fight via controversial major decision.
The Brazilian superstar should face Derrick Lewis at UFC 216 on October 7, 2017, but Lewis pulled back due to back issues and Werdum faced the replacement, Walt Harris. Werdum won via armbar after only 1:05 in the first round, and this is the quickest victory of his career.
Fabricio Werdum – Boomerang Incident
Fabricio Werdum threw a boomerang at Welterweight trash-talker Colby Covington on November 16, 2017, few days before his UFC Fight Night 121, after claiming that Covington hurled a slur insult at him outside of the fighter hotel. He was fined 600 Australian dollars.
Fabricio Werdum defeated Marcin Tybura at the main event of UFC Fight Night 121 on November 19, 2017, via unanimous decision.
Werdum was a favorite versus Alexander Volkov at the main event of UFC Fight Night 127, on March 17, 2018, but the Russian won via KO in the fourth round.
Fabricio Werdum – Next Fight And USADA Issues
Vai Cavalo was scheduled for UFC Fight Night 136 and the match against Oleksiy Oliynyk, but he was flagged for potential doping violation by USADA on May 22 and the status of this fight is currently unknown. Werdum shared a post on his Instagram, hoping this is misunderstanding and he will be back soon.
Personal Life
Fabricio Werdum speaks Portuguese, Spanish, and English. He is married to Karine Groff Werdum and the couple has two daughters.
Fabricio Werdum – Social Media Profiles
- Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/werdum/?hl=sr
- Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/fabriciowerdumoficial/
- Twitter – https://twitter.com/fabriciowerdum
- Official Website – http://www.fabriciowerdum.com.br/
