Last weekend was full of strong emotions for former
UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio
Werdum.
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After being inducted into the ADCC Hall of Fame along with five
other key figures — Xande Ribeiro, Jean
Jacques Machado, Ronaldo
Souza, Vinny
Magalhaes and Orlando
Sanchez — Werdum met backstage with the person mainly
responsible for his arrival at the event in 2003: Mark Kerr.
“Not many people remember, but it was thanks to Kerr that I joined
the ADCC,” Werdum said. “The year was 2003. I had gone to Los
Angeles to compete in the Jiu-Jitsu Pan American Championship and
as I was still starting out and couldn’t afford a hotel, I slept in
the dojo at the Beverly Hills JJ Club owned by my friend Marcus
Vinicius de Lucia, where Kerr trained. When the Pan American ended
and I was going back to Spain, Marcus arrived at the gym with Kerr
and suggested that I stay in L.A. to help Kerr for the super fight
he would have with Arona at the 2003 ADCC in Sao Paulo. I remember
he offered me $200 a day and, obviously, I accepted.”
Werdum recalls receiving strong criticism from the Brazilian
jiu-jitsu community because at the time, it was not common to train
Americans to fight against representatives of Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
The partnership worked so well that Kerr decided to take him as a
corner for the ADCC in Sao Paulo.
“I asked the organizers to fight, but unfortunately the brackets
were already full. That was when Kerr discovered that Ricco
Rodriguez had visa problems and interceded with the
organization so that I could replace him,” Werdum recalled.
While Kerr lost his unbeaten record, falling to Arona via points,
Werdum left the renowned event with two medals (bronze in absolute
and silver in over 99 kilograms category). From this event onwards,
Werdum, who had already been a jiu-jitsu world champion, would once
again join the world grappling elite.
The victory at ADCC was essential for Werdum to be chosen by Wallid
Ismael to fight Gabriel
Gonzaga at Jungle Fight 1 four months later. The following
year, “Vai Cavalo” would receive an invitation from Mirko
Filipovic to live in Croatia. That was an important step for
Werdum toward competing at Pride 29 in February 2005, when he
submited Tom Erikson in
his debut with the Japanese promotion.
“This whole story starts with Kerr,” Werdum said. “I showed him the
slide I used in my speech telling this story, and he showed me his
arm with goosebumps. It was very moving to be able to meet him
again and be able to thank him once again. I told him I can’t wait
to see his film in the cinema.”