UFC News: Fabricio Werdum Requests UFC Release Post 2-Year Suspension
What's the story?
Former UFC heavyweight champion, Fabricio Werdum, has recently requested a release from the UFC, following his 2-year suspension from the sport, in September 2018. Werdum last competed under a UFC contract in his UFC Fight Night 127 main-event clash against Alexander Volkov, on March 17th, 2018.
In case you didn't know...
In May 2018, just under two months since his last fight against Volkov, Werdum was suspected for a potential USADA violation. Three months following this incident, Fabricio Werdum was found to have tested positive for an anabolic steroid, Trenbolone, and its metabolite, Epitrenbolone. The UFC rendered a 2-year suspension on Werdum, making him eligible for a return to the promotion only by April 22nd, 2020.
Soon after the hearing, Fabricio Werdum's manager, Ali Abdelaziz, confessed that he feels Werdum's run in the UFC, was in fact, coming to a halt. He also went on to profess that he expected Alexander Volkov to be Werdum's last opponent in the UFC, before his thought to move to another fighting promotion, outside of the country.
The heart of the matter
In January 2019, as reported by MMA Fighting, Fabricio Werdum released a statement requesting his release from the UFC. He said:
”My idea is to do the right thing, which would be rescind my contract with the UFC. Ali Abdelaziz is a manager that defends us really well. He has a lot of famous fighters, many people, and to me, he’s the best manager right now, the one with the best direct contact with the UFC.
”What I would really like right now is to be free, that the UFC would have consideration with me and release me. It’s a matter of Ali talking with Dana White now. Ali really has a good friendship with Dana White. It’s not only up to Dana. They always say that, and I go talk to someone else and they say it’s not only up to them as well, it’s that game. I obviously love fighting in the UFC, but after this situation, this unfair doping, I would like to fight in other promotions.”
By the looks of it, it seems as though Werdum is also willing to step away from the UFC, with grace. He promised the UFC that he would indeed not step into doing business with any of the UFC's main competitors in the USA, as a show of loyalty and respect to the avenue that kept his hunger to fight, alive, for over a decade.
”I already told the UFC, I’ll sign a term that I would not fight in the United States anymore,” Werdum said. “I’d fight overseas, Japan, Russia, Europe, wherever, but I wouldn’t fight in the United States to cause no harm. I would sign that to be released. I just want to be free to do what I want, which is fight. It’s not about money. I still have a lot to show. I’m 41, but I feel like a kid.”
What's next?
Mixed martial arts is a sport that is world renowned, and present in nations all over the globe. With fighting avenues such as Pancrase and Rizin Fighting Federation, do you think Fabricio Werdum will make his presence in the UFC missed?
Leave your thoughts, opinions, and predictions in the comments section below!