Fabricio Werdum has explained why he’s taking on Derrick Lewis instead of Mark Hunt.
Tonight (Oct. 7), Werdum will take on Lewis inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The heavyweight bout is set to be featured on the main card of UFC 216.
Hunt blasted Werdum for not giving him a rematch in Sydney, Australia. Instead, Hunt has been matched up with Marcin Tybura. Speaking to MMAFighting.com, Werdum explained his decision:
“I’m tired of waiting too long between fights. There’s no reason to wait. My last fight [vs. Alistair Overeem at UFC 213] tasted like a victory but the result was negative, so I wanted to fight again as soon as possible.”
Werdum also wanted to ensure that his next fight would be in the United States.
“I prefer to fight here in the United States instead of Australia because it’s too expensive to move my entire camp to a different country,” he continued. “People don’t realize that, but it’s too expensive. I spent $50,000 the first time I fought in Mexico, and $40,000 when I fought (Cain) Velasquez. That’s an important thing that no one pays attention.”
