Fabricio Werdum Signs With PFL for 2021 Season

Former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum has signed with the Professional Fighters League. The Brazilian MMA legend will compete in the PFL’s 2021 season:

BREAKING: @FabricioWerdum has joined the 2021 PFL Heavyweight Division! pic.twitter.com/mHP2yZMP9I

— PFL MMA (@ProFightLeague) November 16, 2020

In an interview with ESPN, Werdum said that the PCL’s tournament format appealed to him because not only does it give him the chance to stay active, it also fulfills his dream of being able to fight multiple times on a single night. Said Vai Cavalo:

“It was a very good negotiation with them, and I know this event is getting very strong. I have fought for 23 years and this is my dream. I want to fight maybe twice in one night. I love the idea. You have one fight, you win, you go again. Maybe this [coming] year, 2021, I fight four or five fights. This is my dream. In the past, sometimes, [I fought] just one in a year, maybe two. I want to enjoy the moment because it’s so hard for us to stop fighting. Imagine, all my life I have fought, and one day, I have to stop. For sure, I know that. Maybe two years. But imagine I’m the PFL champion at [age] 44? I know I can.”

The Brazilian has fought just twice in the last three years after he served a two-year suspension for violating the UFC’s anti-doping policy. The suspension was reduced to 10 months and with two fights left in his contract, Werdum asked to be released by the UFC. He ended up completing his obligation by defeating Alexander Gustafsson last July.

An All-Time Great

Werdum is one of MMA’s all-time greats. The 43-year old has competed in some of the best MMA promotions in PRIDE, Strikeforce, Jungle Fight, and the UFC. He won the interim UFC heavyweight title by knocking out Mark “Super Samoan” Hunt at UFC 180 in 2014. He became undisputed champion after beating Cain Velasquez at UFC 188 six months later.

Vai Cavalo holds notable wins over former champions and contenders like Velasquez, Alistair Overeem, Minotauro Nogueira, Mark Hunt, Travis Browne, Gabriel Gonzaga, Antonio Silva, Alexander Gustafsson, and Roy Nelson. He is also the first fighter to defeat Fedor Emelianenko.

Prior to his MMA career, Werdum was a four-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champion and Abu Dhabi Club combat world champion. He owns an impressive MMA record of 24 wins including six by knockout and 12 via submission with only nine losses. But since losing the belt to Stipe Miocic, Werdum has been just 4-3 with two losses in his last three bouts.

Most Interesting Format

After fighting out his UFC contract, Werdum became a free agent last July. Instead of re-signing with the promotion, the Brazilian hinted about hitting the free agent market and signing with a different company. Many thought he would reunite with former Strikeforce boss Scott Coker as he held talks with Bellator MMA. Instead, he ends up in the PFL which has one of the most interesting formats in combat sports.

The PFL is the first of its kind. It’s the only MMA organization to present the sport in a format where fighters compete in a regular season, post-season, and championship. The organization has six weight classes and one champion for each division.

Each champion will receive a cash prize of $1M. Fighters fight in a ten-sided cage or decagon using the unified rules of mixed martial arts as regulated by the Nevada Athletic Commission.

The PFL was forced to cancel its 2020 season due to the pandemic but it is expected to return to the scene in April 2021 in Las Vegas. Werdum and former UFC star and Bellator champion Rory MacDonald are the PFL’s big additions for its 2021 campaign. The two MMA superstars will join a PFL roster that includes 2019 champion Ali Isaev, former UFC heavyweight Justin Willis, and Mohammed Usman, the brother of UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman.