Junior dos Santos doesn’t know what to make of Fabricio Werdum’s verbal attacks.
The two former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight title holders fought once before back in Oct. 2008. It was the UFC debut of dos Santos. “Cigano” starched “Vai Cavalo” in a first-round knockout. Many have wondered when these two will cross paths again.
UFC President Dana White revealed Werdum had turned down a rematch with dos Santos after Cain Velasquez was pulled from UFC 207. “Cigano” had expressed frustration over Werdum not fighting him. Before dos Santos’ title bout with Stipe Miocic was official, Werdum scoffed at the idea of giving “Cigano” the shot.
Speaking to Ariel Helwani on “The MMA Hour” (via BJPenn.com), dos Santos said he isn’t convinced Werdum wants any part of him:
“I’m very confused with all of this situation, because I thought he’d like to fight me, but I don’t know anymore. Let me tell you what. In October, when I was ready to fight, the UFC offered [Werdum] this fight. Me and him. He said no. When Cain Velasquez pulled out of the fight at [UFC 207], they called me and said ‘Junior, are you able to fight against one of these guys. They’re pulling out, are you able to fight?’ I said, ‘who’s pulling out?’ They said ‘Cain Velasquez is out of the fight,’ and I said ‘Ok, I’m in.’ It was seven days – seven days from the fight – and I said yes. I was prepared to fight, and he said no. He asked for a lot of money, and then he said no and the fight didn’t happen. Then when Stefan Struve pulled out of the fight, they offered [a fight with me] to him again, and for the third time, he said no.”
In a Facebook post last month, Werdum went on a rant and challenged dos Santos to a gym fight. “Cigano” laughed off the verbal tirade.
“I cannot understand how he says so many bad things. The worst thing is, after all of these crazy things, he said he would come to my gym and beat me up in the gym. I said ‘what’s this guy thinking?’ He just denied to make money against me in a real fight, in a professional fight, and now he wants to come here and fight for free? Come on! What’s happening with this guy?”
