Fabricio Werdum reveals plans for a fight against Fedor Emelianenko after final UFC fight
It seems as though Fabricio Werdum is done with the UFC. He stated before the fight that he was planning to test free agency. He further confirmed this after his final UFC fight against Alexander Gustafsson, where he won by submission in the first round.
While he hasn't closed the doors to a new UFC contract, it seems like his mind is elsewhere. In the post-fight press conference, he explained the emotions of it all (via MMAJunkie):
“The emotion was because this is my last fight in the UFC,” Werdum told reporters during the post-fight news conference. “I had many years with the UFC. I don’t know how many I had with the UFC, like 10 years (or) 12 years. You know? I’m a working individual – on Spanish commentaries. I think almost all of my life was here. I love UFC for sure. I want to say thank you to the UFC for many things.”
When asked about whether he's targeting legendary Heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko, Fabricio Werdum, who defeated him in 2010 said:
“This is 100 percent (true),” Werdum said. “I want to fight with Fedor, 100 percent. I respect him a lot. I want to give this opportunity to him to fight with me again. This has history: Me vs. Fedor in 2010. Ten years later, everybody wants to see this fight. I don’t know where, but for sure I want to fight with Fedor because I respect him. In my mind, he is the best in the world.”
Fabricio Werdum's next step
It's going to be interesting to see what Fabricio Werdum has lined up next. He said that he has to speak to manager Ali Abdelaziz regarding his future. Ultimately, Fabricio Werdum stated that he isn't retiring and still has a few fights left in his career. Fabricio Werdum believes that his "mind" is still young.