Werdum Calls Miocic vs. dos Santos, “Unfair”

Fabricio Werdum.

Rumors have circulated that Stipe Miocic will defend his UFC heavyweight title at UFC 211 against former champ Junior dos Santos. There is a former titleholder who isn’t happy about the prosepective fight.

“I don’t really think (Miocic vs. Dos Santos) is fair,” Fabricio Werdum told MMA Junkie. “Because I’m the last champ. Going by logic, there’s a (UFC) ranking, it’s there for a reason, and I’m the No. 1. Obviously it’s not a tournament, but I imagined the fight with Velasquez that didn’t happen as a semifinal. It was between Cain and I, and whoever won would fight for the belt. That was practically a given. That’s what everybody saw.”

“But then the fight was canceled, which was a shame, so I thought, ‘Well, Cain is injured, so I’m next,’” Werdum continued. “I heard that Miocic was having contract issues, that he’s asking for more money – and I’m not criticizing him, I think it’s only right. That also happened to me.”

 “I think every fighter has the right to demand a little, what they deserve after becoming champ. But Miocic will only fight in June or July, and I’d wait. For the belt, I’d wait for sure.”
Reports had surfaced that after Cain Velasquez had to pull out of his UFC 207 against Werdum and dos Santos was offered to Werdum, who turned it turned it down and then was offered to fight him again for the UFC Fight Night 105 show on Feb. 19.
Werdum wants to make it clear, he wasn’t running from his fellow Brazilian and just wants the proper time to prepare for such a significant fight.

“I wasn’t apt to fight him at that moment because as soon as they canceled the (Cain) Velasquez scrap (at UFC 207), I stopped training entirely,” Werdum explained. “I really stopped. I traveled with my family, I did what I always do after I fight – I travel, do seminars, go on vacations. In my head, it was like I’d fought, because I’d prepared for that moment.

 “I didn’t want what happened when I fought (Alistair) Overeem in Strikeforce, when I went past my point and went into overtraining, to happen again. So I stopped training, to get some rest. The body needs that. They speculated this fight with ‘Cigano’ – they never offered it to me officially, but they talked about me fighting him in February. But it wasn’t the time. When they schedule the fight with ‘Cigano,’ it won’t be right away. I’ll prepare for it.”