'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAGAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFQABAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABgf/2gAIAQEAAAAAnZb/xAAUAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAE/9oACAECEAAAAD//xAAUAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAE/9oACAEDEAAAAFf/xAAgEAABAwQCAwAAAAAAAAAAAAACAQMEAAUGERIhEyNh/9oACAEBAAE/AMXi2JzCsplS7MD0yzMMNoYuKCGe1JS+LtKGxwZopKBBjg/7UZFsiRtC7478neq//8QAFxEBAAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAgADIf/aAAgBAgEBPwCnUp//xAAZEQACAwEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACIQADEfD/2gAIAQMBAT8AuQBnOf/Z'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
What's the story?
UFC fighter Fabricio Werdum was recently interviewed by Guilherme Cruz of MMAFighting. During this interview, Werdum revealed that he has a meeting with the WWE this week and hopes of signing a deal.
In case you didn't know...
Werdum is 40 years old and began his MMA career in 2002. He has held the UFC Heavyweight Championship on one occasion when he defeated Mark Hunt to obtain the interim title at UFC 180 and then overcame Cain Velasquez at UFC 188 in June 2015 to be the undisputed champion.
The heart of the matter
Werdum hopes to be able to work for both the WWE and UFC at the same time, and he believes that it is doable. He revealed during his interview with MMAFighting that there is a meeting with the WWE this Thursday about the potential of working for both companies.
In 2016, Werdum worked on a remake of the movie Kickboxer, and the movie's producer, Rob Hickman helped him to get his foot in the door with the WWE. Werdum expanded on the meeting further in his quote below:
"I'll have this meeting Thursday in San Diego to see if something happens with WWE. It's cool, a unique opportunity to do a few fights there as well. People think it's easy, but it's not. You have to be well trained to do those jumps, you have to be agile. It's not easy as some people might think. It's quite complicated. You have to be well trained and practice a lot to captivate the audience."
Werdum is already thinking about character development, and would like to be the WWE version of Vai Cavalo, which is his nickname:
"I'm fluent in Spanish, so I can do a character that speaks Spanish," Werdum said. "That would be cool. I'd really like to have this opportunity to do this and captivate the Latin audience because they really love WWE. I'd be thrilled to do a fight there, or more, or a contract, because there's no problem with the UFC since it's not a real fight, it's more of a show."
What's next?
The next fight for Werdum (23-7-1) will take place on 17 March during UFC Fight Night 127 at the 02 Arena in London, England. Werdum will take on Alexander Volkov (29-6).
Author's take
Over the past couple of years, the crossover from MMA to pro wrestling has definitely increased. There is even more interest now that Ronda Rousey has signed a deal with the WWE and has a marquee match at WrestleMania.
There are many other fighters I would have guessed that would want to make the jump to the WWE from MMA, but Werdum's name surprised me when I read the interview. Much like Rousey, he seems to have a lot of passion, and I would love to see what he could do in the squared circle.
Send us news tips at [email protected]
