Photo: Esther Lin
Fabrício Werdum is one of the stars in the lineup for the Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix, set to begin February 12, when the first two quarterfinals will take place. On the day, Fedor Emelianenko will face Antonio Pezão, while former UFC champion Andrei Arlovski will face Sergei Kharitonov.
Still without a a set date, Josh Barnett will face Brett Rogers and Fabrício Werdum will face the promotion’s current champion, Alistair Overeem. Werdum, who already submitted Overeem once in 2006, back during the days of Pride FC, has been asking for the fight to happen in Strikeforce for some time. Now he will have the chance.
“I’m really stoked about the tournament, the second of my career. I like the idea! I’m ready for anything, standing or on the ground. I’m 100% and I’ll win this tournament,” says the black belt on the Strikeforce website.
Fabrício is coming off a win over Fedor Emelianenko, who is at the other end of the bracket, which he feels will create greater interest from the public.
“Now the fans await my next fight. My last appearance shocked the world and I will do it once again. My next opponent is Overeem. I beat him three years ago and I’ll beat him one more time,” he guarantees.
The fighter knows all the qualities his opponent possesses, but he believes his Jiu-Jitsu will, once again, be the determining factor.
“Overeem trains a lot standing, he recently won the K-1 World event. My strength is on the ground. So I say: Overeem, be careful on the ground!” says the optimist in closing.