After a rough UFC stint, Robelis Despaigne may have found new
life in MMA this past Saturday. | Getty/UFC
Netflix’s MMA debut, with a number of big stars, stole a good
portion of the
UFC’s audience last Saturday.
Retired ex-UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio
Werdum was rooting for former foe Junior dos
Santos against Robelis
Despaigne at
Most Valuable Promotions “Rousey vs. Carano,” but he believed
the Cuban striker deserved to be favored. Despaigne defeated dos
Santos via first-round KO on Saturday’s main card.
“I had a great rivalry with ‘Cigano,’ but after our last fight we
became friends. When I saw the Cuban’s fights in Karate Combat, I
commented in the WhatsApp group where Rafael
Cordeiro, Lyoto and Wanderlei are. All the support is for daddy
‘Cigano,’ but I don’t think it’s going to happen,” said Werdum, who
after having his expectation confirmed made a point of calling his
friend at the end of the fight.
“I sent him a message and he replied right away. I was happy that
he took it in stride and didn’t make excuses.”
Werdum was surprised by the salary figures released from the event,
which revealed that dos Santos earned $80,000 for his fight.
“I thought they started with great purses. The only one that didn’t
make any sense to me was ‘Cigano’s.’ I think they got a zero
wrong,” Werdum said. “Two years ago he fought me for $800,000 or $1
million at Gamebred Fighting Championship. It doesn’t make sense
for a former UFC heavyweight champion to fight for $80,000. There’s
definitely an error there.”
Predicting KO Losses for Ngannou, Hokit
In the opinion of the former UFC heavyweight champion, Netflix
should indeed pair Robelis
Despaigne and Ngannou in a future edition.
“This Cuban is a terrible matchup for Francis
Ngannou,” Werdum said. “He has a lot of reach, speed, and
precision. I’m 99% sure he’ll beat Ngannou by knockout.”
Mentioned by Joe Rogan as one of the greatest heavyweights in the
history of the sport, with finishes over Fedor
Emelianenko, Antonio
Rodrigo Nogueira and Cain
Velasquez, Werdum also commented on the current state of his
division in the UFC.
“I didn’t know this Hokit, in fact I’ve never seen him fight and I
don’t understand why they put him in the White House. This guy
doesn’t represent MMA. Our sport has nothing to do with WWE.
[Conor
McGregor and Chael
Sonnen] — those guys are smart, that’s trash talk. What this
guy does is ridiculous, it’s embarrassing. I’m sure Lewis will
knock him out.”
Asked about the confrontation between his compatriot Alex
Pereira and Ciryl Gane,
“Vai Cavalo” believes that the Frenchman’s heart will be a tipping
point in favor of the Brazilian.
“Ciryl is very good but he doesn’t have heart. I realized that in
his fight with Jon Jones,”
Werdum said. “He accepted defeat, stood still and didn’t even
attempt a defense when the guillotine choke wasn’t even locked in.
‘Poatan’ is a natural heavyweight; I don’t even see him moving up a
division. I think he’ll win and make history by being the first
fighter to win three belts, and in the White House no less.”
Return to Grappling?
Werdum also revealed that after getting involved in backstage riot
in the fight between Wanderlei
Silva and Popó Freitas, broadcast live by Rede Globo last
September, he was no longer invited to be an MMA commentator on the
Combate channel. But on the other hand, his podcast and lectures
are going pretty well. Werdum has done more than 300 interviews on
his podcast and did 48 lectures for big Brazilian companies. Werdum
also revealed that he got a proposal to return in a grappling
match. He speculated that Ryan Bader or
Frank
Mir may be among the potential opponents, but he did not give
more details about which event and when it would happen.