The rematch between former UFC heavyweight champions
Junior dos
Santos and Fabrício Werdum is attracting the attention of
Brazilian fans.
The bareknuckle MMA fight, which will be the main event of
Gamebred Fighting Championship 5, takes place almost 15 years
after the first showdown and will be broadcast live on the Combate
channel in Brazil on Friday. In the first confrontation, at UFC 90
in October 2008, dos Santos made his debut in the promotion and
knocked out the favored Werdum, who was on the last fight of his
contract and close to a title shot.
“Since I lost, the UFC made an unreasonable proposal and ended up
forcing me to leave the promotion and restart my career at
Strikeforce,” Werdum told Sherdog.com.
This first fight and its ensuing consequences ended up forging a
great rivalry between Werdum and “Cigano. While dos Santos started
a meteoric career in the UFC, earning six more victories that would
culiminate in a first-round knockout of then champion
Cain
Velasquez in 2011, Werdum would have to start from scratch at
Strikeforce, beating
Mike Kyle,
Antonio
Silva and
Fedor
Emelianenko — a major turning point in his career.
Despite all the exchanges of barbs over the past 15 years, Werdum
guarantees he won't take it to the ring in Friday's fight.
“I'm not worried about the past, I don't think about it. The
business is 100% professional, zero personal, zero rivalry,” Werdum
said. “Those who live in the past are a museum.”
Werdum’s stance was a surprise to dos Santos.
“In fact, the rivalry was created by Werdum himself, due to the way
he portrayed himself in relation to me with controversial
statements,” dos Santos told