Although his Professional Fighters League debut is expected for
April 23, former UFC champion Fabricio
Werdum still doesn’t know who he will face.
“While they don’t give my opponent’s name, I heard it would
be a Brazilian,” Werdum said. “I´m keeping myself in shape doing
some cardio here in Brazil, but on Feb. 20 I’m going to Los
Angeles, where I’ll start my camp with master Rafael
Cordeiro at Kings MMA.”
In the meantime, Werdum will keep on eye on this Saturday’s UFC
Fight Night 184 headliner between Alistair
Overeem and Alexander
Volkov. Werdum, who has losses to both Volkov and Overeem
(twice) on his resume, gives the Dutch veteran the edge in this
instance.
“Overeem has both knockout power and experience to control the
distance,” Werdum said. “I believe he is a bad matchup for
Volkov.”
As for the following week, Werdum likes Gilbert
Burns to pull the upset against Kamaru
Usman to claim welterweight gold in the UFC 258 headliner. “Vai
Cavalo” believes Burns might have gained a mental advantage when
the two were training partners at various Florida locations from
the Blackzilians to Sanford MMA.
“I always tought it was strange the way Usman postponed that fight
a couple of times,” Werdum said. “Nobody ever told me about their
sparring but, for the anxious way Burns wanted it and Kamaru
didn’t, I would bet Kamaru had something to be afraid of. My bet is
that ‘Durinho’ will win the belt via submission.”
Although he is very happy with the respectful way PFL has welcomed
him, Werdum said he expects that cross-promotional super fights
will eventually be a reality. That would allow him a chance to face
former UFC light heavyweight Jon Jones.
“I believe Jones will be the future UFC heavyweight champion,”
Werdum said. “If I win the PFL heavyweight grand prix, it would be
great to finally fight him in a cross promotion superfight. I have
no doubt that if I face Jones in the same shape I fought
Gustafsson, I would submit him on the ground.”
Werdum also revealed a business partnership with Tyson Ranch, Mike
Tyson’s 420-acre cannabis resort.
“I talked to Mike that I would love to take CBD to Brazil, and he
loved the idea. The situation of CBD in Brazil is different from
USA, but we are working on that,” Werdum said.
In the most humorous part of the interview, ‘Vai Cavalo’ revealed
that Rede Globo invited him to take part in the 20th edition of
most popular reality show on Brazilian TV, “Big Brother.” However,
he declined in large part due to the presence of cameras in the
bathroom.
“Imagine all Brazilian looking at my sh— and living three months
without having sex,” he said. “Furthermore I would lose my family,
because my wife would break up with me immediately. When the guy
started to talk I immediately interrupted and declined,” he said.