Fabricio Werdum

Fabricio Werdum is a professional mixed martial arts fighter from Brazil, famous for being a two-time Jiu-Jitsu world champion. He also has been a European Jiu-Jitsu champion and a 2-time Abu Dhabi Combat Club World Heavy Weight champion. Werdum was once ranked as number 6 by UFC under pound-for-pound and number 1 in the heavyweight division. Sherdog once ranked him as the number 7th fighter in the world.

He was born on July 30, 1977 in Porto Alegre, Brazil and is known in the MMA world as “Vai Cavalo.” Werdum was 24 when he first entered the sport of mixed martial arts. In June 2002, he won his first fight against Tengiz Tedoradze. With the exception of his second fight which turned out to be a draw, he defeated all his opponents in his next three fights including Gabriel Gonzaga, who is another Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu specialist.

This Brazilian fighter signed up with PRIDE and debuted in early 2005 to defeat Tom Erikson by submission. His career while he was with PRIDE was a majority of victories with two losses including defeats to Serei Kharitonov and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

In April 2007, after a short stint in 2 Hot 2 Handle, Werdum signed in the UFC to suffer a loss against the former UFC Heavyweight champion, Andrei Arlovski. It was about this time that he began to train with Chute Boxe Academy in Brazil. He won against his next two bouts by TKO including a rematch versus Gabriel Gonzaga. After his last UFC fight in October 2008 where he lost via KO to underdog Junior dos Santos, he signed up with Strikeforce.

Werdum’s first fight with Strikeforce was in August 2009 against Mike Kyle, whom he defeated by submission using a guillotine choke. He also overpowered his next opponent, Antonio Silva, in a unanimous decision.

Other than competing in MMA, Werdum is also training other fighters. He coached Mirko Filipović in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu until the latter part of 2006. He operates and teaches at the Werdum Combat Team, a training school in Venice, California specializing in combative sports and also coaches in the Ultimate Fighter.

The mixed martial artist has been recognized as the first ever fighter to defeat the equally talented Fedor Emilianenko in a competition on mixed martial arts. He comes with an array of styles and black belts in Muay Thai, Judo, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

His latest fight against Alexander Volkov during UFC Fight Night ended in a loss via knockout. Over the course of his mixed martial arts career, Werdum had fought 32 fights with a total of 23 wins, 8 losses, and 1 draw. He also has outstanding awards in Jiu-Jitsu and wrestling competitions.