--While I certainly won’t claim I ever gave Fabricio Werdum a chance in last night’s fight with pound-for-pound kingpin Fedor Emelianenko (because I didn’t), I must say it was foolish to disregard Werdum. I mean, Werdum is in the 99th percentile of all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighters, so when Fedor knocked him to the ground we should have been open to what could happen.
It seemed as if Fedor wanted to go on a rampage in Werdum’s guard a la the Noguiera fights, but the armbar/triangle thrown up from the Brazilian was the natural result of anyone—even a fighter as mythical as Fedor—getting sloppy in an ADCC champion’s guard.
--I couldn’t be happier for Werdum. After a monstrous uppercut from then-unknown Junior dos Santos at UFC 90, he found himself faced with taking a pay cut or being dumped from the UFC roster. He took the prideful route by declining the lesser offer and ended up with not only the biggest win of his career, but also the biggest win in MMA since Brock Lesnar defeated Randy Couture at UFC 91 in late 2008.
--Werdum should decline an immediate rematch with Fedor. It’s not the right fight for him and frankly I don’t care to see it right now. It’s not like he won some close decision reminiscent of Penn/Edgar or Shogun/Machida I. No, this was clear and decisive. He should fight Alistair Overeem for the (laughable) Strikeforce belt. Werdum holds a win (via a rather difficult kimura) over the Dutchman from the opening stage of the PRIDE Open Weight Grand Prix in 2006, when Overeem had yet to become the monstrous K-1 striker known as Megareem.
--By the way, no matter what happens at UFC 116: Lesnar vs. Carwin, Fabricio Werdum is the linear heavyweight champion of the world.
--If Fedor is to fight again in the United States, expect a severe dearth of M-1 attempting to reem (see what I did there?) promoters over the bargaining table.
--Everyone should calm down. Fedor is still the greatest heavyweight of all time and I still have him as the greatest Mixed Martial Artist of all time. In the latter regard, however, Anderson Silva is hot on his heels with George St. Pierre running a horse length behind.
--Non-Fedor/Werdum thoughts:
- I guess if we have to have Cung Le/Scott Smith III due to a rematch clause, it should be in the first round of Strikeforce’s proposed Middleweight Tournament.
- Jan Finney is hot, but she had no business being in the cage with Cyborg last night.
- Kim Winslow is simply Steve Mazzagatti doing his best Buffalo Bill attempt. Jesus, I’m glad they didn’t have her refereeing Silva/Rampage III… Wanderlei might still be in a coma.
- Josh Thomson is a fun fighter to watch but I don’t think he’ll ever be in the top-5 at lightweight.
*Photo by Jeff Chiu/Associated Press
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