Fabricio Werdum Doesn’t Know If He Has Been Cut by the UFC
by id1 on Nov 11, 2008 1:41 PM EST
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According to a article by Brazilian MMA site Tatame, Fabricio Werdum doesn’t even know that he has been cut by the UFC:
"I'm surprised by the news. My sister is my manager and she's the one that deals with the UFC and she always contacted me first before making any decision. From what I know the UFC have not contacted her. I still have four more fights left on my contract that runs until 2010. From what they told me I should fight in February, July, November and April of 2010. In fact, I'm moving to the US to prepare for those fights with Rafael Cordeiro." said Werdum who is still making final arrangements to make his move to USA in December.
Thanks to a translation by Robert K at Bet WWX via MMA Frenzy. This is the first time [since Cro Cop but that was amicable] that I’ve have heard of the UFC parting ways with a guy with an existing contract. The MMA Weekly article stated that Werdum had already started looking for other promotions but in this new interview its clear that he doesn't even know if he has been cut by the UFC. On the other hand his profile has been removed from the UFC website:
Sorry, The person's information you requested is not available at this time.
In July it was widely reported that Werdum had signed a new five-fight contract with the UFC.
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This is frontpage material.
"It's like a flying knuckle sandwich." --Rogan
"And many men have eaten it." -- Goldy
UFC still has profiles for Royce Gracie, Travis Lutter, Tito Ortiz, Evan Tanner, ect
so idk how much you can really draw from that fighters list.
There is a huge difference between not taking a fighters name down (for whatever reason) and actively taking one down, especially when it comes during a rumor that the fighter is no longer with the company. I grant you that accidents do happen on websites, clearly, but this would be a very big coincidence (and don’t go getting all Seinfeld on me).
Lets think about this for a little bit...
One, the UFC’s policy has never been to remove a fighter’s bio when they cut them, as evidence by myriads of bios still up there. The UFC’s website has never been the most up to date. Why would they break precedence now?
Two, MMAWeekly reported that negotiation broke down and the UFC cut Werdum. Werdum reports that there has been no negotiation. Either Werdum is lying, his sister is lying, or MMAWeekly’s source is wrong.
Three, when has the UFC cut a fighter without the fighter’s knowledge? CroCop was in contact with the UFC the whole time before they parted ways. I know Dana is the devil’s spawn, but would he do something like this? You know, at least negotiate the contract down before cutting Werdum?
Four, MMAWeekly reported that Wanderlei was cut after the loss to Liddell which was proved to be false. They have a credibility problem.
Five, whenever there’s news, multiple sources back it up (Sherdog, MMAJunkie, etc.). So far, only MMAWeekly has reported it.
Food for your thoughts.
The UFC has removed Matt Lindland and Frank Shamrock from their site, so they will remove anyone who they don’t like. Werdum recently complained about being left out of the Tourney, and I could see where that could be leveraged against him after the loss. Hope it’s BS, but Dana is a hardass…
Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. -Samuel Beckett
by Scott C. Broussard on Nov 11, 2008 2:52 PM EST up reply actions
I keep seeing everyone referencing this as a possible reason, and while I’m sure it didn’t help matters, I really think it is getting blown out of proportion.
Not saying this directly at you themach, it has been said a lot since this came out.
http://eliotmarshall.com/
No problem, mate. I doubt a slight grumble would get him fired, but the UFC plays hardball, and Werdum is at a confluence of bad luck – no draw, dull fights, KTFOed, complaining. It would suck to lose him because he would be a tough test for up-and-comers, but fighters have been cut for less.
Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. -Samuel Beckett
by Scott C. Broussard on Nov 11, 2008 4:06 PM EST up reply actions
ok
1: Show me Nick Diaz’s bio on their site (don’t bother, as of right now it isn’t there). They absolutely can get rid of a fighters bio when a fighter has been cut. You’re point that they don’t HAVE to is a bit silly.
2: Or Werdum doesn’t know yet, since his sister is his agent/manager.
3: See #2. Why would the UFC call him personally if the talks with his sister went badly? It’s up to her to tell him, not them, and certainly not Dana.
4: Thanks for the info, but it has nothing to do with this.
5: See #4.
Dessert for your thoughts.
Nice Myth,
but the only thing that interests me about Werdum right now is being able to see those elephant ears flopping against the side of his skull when Junior uppercutted his out of shape butt basically right out of the UFC. Run ons, I know
I’m not getting into an argumentative stance with you because I don’t know the truth. However, #4 and #5 has everything to do with it. If MMAWeekly has a credibility problem, then one has to be wary of their sources. Two, when news break, multiple sources must report it for it to be credible.
Since I don’t work for MMAWeekly, don’t try to back me into defending them. My only point is that it was reported that Werdum and the UFC parted ways, and his bio is no longer on the site (and it once was). I wrote in my post, “this would be a very big coincidence” and I stand by that. You made a big issue of it.
I’m not making an issue of it. It just so happens that I chose this thread to reply to. It has nothing to do with contradicting what you said.
We’re all assuming that the bio being pulled supports the fact that MMAWeekly reported it. But could it possibly be that it is the other way around? MMAWeekly used the bio missing as the catalyst for reporting it in the first place? The bottom line is the facts don’t line up properly and until Sherdog or MMAJunkie backs up this report, I think it would not proper to report this as fact when Werdum (who should be more reliable than a source for MMAWeekly unless that source is the UFC itself) himself contradicts it.
Cyph’s right, the fact that MMAWeekly does seem to have a credibility problem should be taken into account, especially seeing as there hasn’t been official word.
And although his sister is his manager, he does specifically say that she runs things by him before making decisions. I would think it would be extremely unusual, no matter how good your relationship with your manager, to give them the green light to walk away from your contract without consulting them first.
And regardless of the bio issues at UFC.com, I still think it’s pretty odd that a bio that was there a couple weeks ago, is now gone amidst talk of him leaving the org.
It all seems to be a mess at this point, I guess we’ll have to wait for some sort of official word from someone.
To me this indicates that the fighters that are most vulnerable in the UFC are those who have fought elsewhere and are fairly well established — ie expensive.
I expect Marcus Aurelio to be cut very soon and Denis Kang will need to win right out of the gate or he’ll get cut too.
Which is why, when people say if a fighter is smart, he will sign with the UFC because they will give you job security and they will not fold.
I think not. After you lose, the UFC has a right to renegotiate your contract to either take a paycut, freeze you out, or release you. I wouldn’t call that job security.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Nov 11, 2008 2:22 PM EST up reply actions
job security
if the ufc does’nt offer the best job security in mma, then name who does. good luck!
Despite this, it’s still the best job security there is in the business.
If you sign a 4 fight deal, you don’t really have to worry about your second fight.
If you are an absolute disaster in the first one, they cut you fairly quickly, they won’t cancel a card, then say they’re declaring bankruptcy, then have their creditors try to sell you on ebay, then tell you they aren’t declaring bankruptcy and that they’re going to promote shows without money, and leave you in limbo forever.
You are correct sir.
Werdum has a base salary of 80K, I believe, so its not like he is making Vera money by any means.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Nov 11, 2008 2:15 PM EST up reply actions
Jason Lambert Cut
I just saw over at 5ouncesofpain that Jason Lambert has been cut but his profile remains at UFC.com, so this may be just a mistake after all. Werdum is major talent with a great record it would be really strange for the UFC to cut him after 1 loss.
It seems that it may not just be about the one loss,
but more about him possibly still demanding a title shot after getting KTFO’d in his last fight. If his previous posts are accurate, it seems that he has been raising hell about not getting a title shot.
He probably didn’t like being the HW version of Jardine/Machida. No matter how many fights he wins, including those that should put him in line for a title shot – he gets passed over and/or made to fight “just one more” eliminator fight until he loses. Then they’ll say that he didn’t deserve the shot after the loss.
Tough game these days if the bosses don’t like you.
by Frank_Castle on Nov 11, 2008 3:40 PM EST up reply actions
That's sports entertainment for ya
No matter how good you are, if you don’t get over with the crowd, the WW.. I mean UFC will either cut you or make you Funaki.
So coming in
30 lbs overweight and getting knocked should definitely resolve all of that then. That is a sound business decision on his part. I understand some of his frustration, but if you are him you have to know you are going to be behind Couture, Nog & even Mir during all of this.
The worst part is he would likely tool Frank Mir, but again…if you’re not the golden boy…
by Frank_Castle on Nov 11, 2008 4:34 PM EST up reply actions
Tool Frank via slaps?
"My job is a decision-making job, and as a result, I make a lot of decisions." --George W. Bush, The Decider, Lancaster, Pa., Oct. 3, 2007
Well Mir ain’t gonna outstrike him and quite frankly Werdum has an underrated clinch game, not to mention that I think Werdum’s BJJ credentials would trump Mir’s. Let’s not forget that Werdum’s shown to have a pretty good chin outside of his last fight and most importantly heart to absorb punishment and keep on ticking with good cardio. Whereas Mir’s cardio is atrocious and he’s got absolutely no heart at all.
Lest we forget that a year ago everyone thought Mir was completely washed up and needed to retire after pathetic performances against Pe de Pano, Vera and Christenson (complete gift decision). Mir is totally living off getting thrashed for 90 seconds and pulling a sub on a total mma newb…I’m far from sold on Mir “being back”.
by Frank_Castle on Nov 11, 2008 6:04 PM EST up reply actions
This whole thing is a mess and taking anything on the UFC website as a sign of anything is what is really scary here. The site is full of factual errors, incorrect fighter records and a lack of basic updating. For all we know the goofs running the UFC site took down Werdum because they read it on MMAweekly. All we need now is for it to be on wikipedia for it to be a undeniable truth.
I do have to wonder how MMAweekly knew that Werdum was in negotiations with other organizations in the US and Japan when Werdum is saying that he has no clue about any of this? Do we have any other source for this besides MMAweekly and why did Sherdog take the story down yesterday? There just seems to be a lot of unanswered questions about this one still.
foxnews. I posted the video in a fan shot in case you want to see the interview. He doesn’t give any reasons as to why. He just says Werdum was let go.
Disappointing, to say the least
Werdum’s fight record in the UFC can’t have been the problem; his debut Loss to Arlovski was via decision (could have went either way) and then he chalked up two TKO wins in a row. His TKO loss to Junior dos Santos was unfortunate and that flash knockdown punch could have floored anyone
So it now looks like it had more to do with Werdum “speaking out of turn” about the state of the HW division and his expectations of where he should be regarding a title shot – which is both disappointing and worrying, though not entirely surprising considering the nature of the UFC’s fighter contracts.
by VikingPhotography on Nov 17, 2008 5:57 AM EST up reply actions
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