Werdum: “My business is on the ground, but the fight starts standing”

It was widely expected that following his win over Andrei Arlovski, that Brett Rogers would be facing Strikeforce heavyweight champ Alistair Overeem for the title. However the title shot fell to Fabricio Werdum, and he couldn’t be happier.

In a recent interview with Tatame, the Brazilian former UFC star speaks about his upcoming fight with Overeem.

“I was very happy. In fact, it will be the first time I dispute a belt. In 2003 I disputed a belt at Morocco (World Absolute Fight Federation), but it wasn’t a known event, was a small event... I was so happy when my manager called about the fight, and a belt dispute changes everything.”

“I’ll bring him to my area, but I’ll train both standing and on the ground. My business is on the ground, but the fight starts standing and it’s difficult to take to the ground... In the other fight with him, I couldn’t give him any drop, he gave me five falls... But the strategy is to take to the ground and finalize.”

Werdum and Overeem are set to go at it for the Strikeforce heavyweight title on August 15th. The card also sees the first ever female MMA super fight when unbeaten Gina Carano takes on Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos.

By Rory Logan