Las Vegas, NV — Former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum has signed on to face an old rival in Junior Dos Santos this September.
The catch is, the fight will come under the Gamebred Bareknuckle banner, the bareknuckle MMA promotion run by fellow former UFC star Jorge Masvidal. Werdum vs. JDS 2 goes down September 8, 2023, and it seems everything came together at the right time for Brazil’s Werdum.
The fight offers a chance for Werdum to avenge a devastating loss to JDS under the UFC banner, and move on from a brief PFL stint that ended in controversy due to a non-stoppage in a fight later overturned.
“Yeah man. More important for me is I’m very happy. Everything in my life is okay. My family, everything is good,” Werdum (24-9-1, 1NC) told Cageside Press in an exclusive interview at Friday’s Gamebred Bareknuckle 5 press conference. “I’m a born fighter, and when guys invite me to fight again, no gloves, I said ‘send me the contract please.’ I signed, and that’s it. I love the thing, I love everything I have in my life.”
According to Werdum, the opportunity came about after he talked with Jorge Masvidal on Instagram. Once the contract was sent to his manager, it was an easy decision to sign on. And despite the lack of gloves in the fight, Werdum doesn’t expect any obstacles making the transition.
“Just adapting the training, it’s easy. No gloves— I have trained with gloves, boxing gloves, and MMA gloves too. But just like I adapted when I have a [jiu-jitsu] meet, no gloves, it’s a very easy adaption in the training.”
Working for Masvidal, meanwhile, is easier than working under your run of the mill promoter, added Werdum.
“I love him. He’s an amazing guy. He speaks Spanish too, I love speaking Spanish. He understands me easy,” Werdum explained. “Some guy, some promoter doesn’t understand you, but he understands because he’s a fighter. I’m very exited, for sure September 8 will be like a big show.”
Watch our full interview with Gamebred Bareknuckle 5 heavyweight Fabricio Werdum above.
