Fabricio Werdum looks to move into the UFC-title picture
By BOB EMANUEL JR. | Scripps Howard News Service
The top of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s heavyweight division is already set, with former champion Junior Dos Santos to face current champion Cain Velasquez later this year. The rest of the division can gain some clarity Saturday when Fabricio Werdum faces Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira in the main event of “UFC on FUEL TV 10” in Fortaleza, Brazil.
Werdum, third-ranked by the UFC, could position himself as the next potential challenger for the title with a win against eighth-ranked Nogueira.
Werdum (16-5-1) has won seven of his last nine fights, with the losses coming to Dos Santos and former Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem. During that span, Werdum ended the nine-year winning streak of former Russian star Fedor Emelianenko. He also defeated top-five heavyweights Antonio Silva and Roy Nelson.
Nogueira (34-7-1, one no-contest) is 3-3 in his last six fights, with two losses to former two-time heavyweight champion Frank Mir and the other to Velasquez.
William Macario will fight Leonardo Santos in “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil” season-two finale.
The main card (8 p.m. EDT/5 p.m. PDT on FUEL TV) also includes: light heavyweights Thiago Silva and Rafael Cavalcante; middleweights Daniel Sarafian and Eddie Mendez; welterweights Erick Silva and Jason High; and featherweights Rony Jason and Mike Wilkinson.
The preliminaries (4:30 p.m. EDT/1:30 p.m. PDT at www.facebook.com/UFC/) include: bantamweights Raphael Assuncao and Vaughan Lee; middleweights Ronny Markes and Derek Brunson; featherweights Godofredo Pepey and Felipe Arantes; welterweights Ildemar Alcantara and Leandro Silva; featherweights Rodrigo Damm and Mizuto Hirota; middleweights Caio Magalhaes and Karlos Vemola; and middleweights Antonio Braga Neto and Anthony Smith.
