Sherdog.com Preview: PRIDE 31 “Unbreakable”
Jon Olav Einemo vs. Fabricio Werdum
Feb 24, 2006
EINEMO: Jon Olav
Einemo wrestled as a youth and was an ice hockey goalie in his
native Norway before turning to fighting. He trains with Richard
Bolenius in Oslo, Norway and at the Scandinavian BJJ Academy,
representing Team Scandinavian with Joachim Hansen (Pictures). Einemo carries a MMA record of
5-0.
In the 2003 Abu Dhabi Submission Fighting Championships, Einemo defeated Brandon Vera (Pictures) in the opening round, Larry Popadopoulos in the quarterfinals, Roger Gracie in the semis and Alexandre Ferreira in the final to win the 88kg-98kg division title.
DSE offered a spot to Einemo in the 2004 GP but he couldn't
participate due to shoulder and leg injuries.
He began fighting MMA in 2000 and took part in SHOOTO events in Holland and Finland. Einemo made his Japanese debut in 2003 and defeated Mindaugas Kulikauskas in just 47 seconds. Einemo hasn’t fought a MMA bout in over than two years.
In the Absolute Division that year he defeated Matt Lindland (Pictures) and Akira Shoji (Pictures), then lost to RINGS vet Alexandre Ferreira in the semis. He came back to defeat Pe De Pano to win third-place honors. Werdum initially went to Abu Dhabi to help Mark Kerr prepare for his super-fight with Ricardo Arona (Pictures) and then was sponsored by Marcos Vinicius, owner of Beverly Hills Jiu-Jitsu Club. He also trained under Marcio Corleta and Silvio Behring (son of Master Flavio Behring).
Werdum began training jiu-jitsu in 1998 after a girlfriend’s former boyfriend challenged him to a fight. He was unfamiliar with the BJJ and was easily triangle choked in front of his girlfriend. He sought out Winner Behring and instructor Marcio Corleta to begin training. Werdum won world titles and the Pan American championships as a blue belt, the European Cup as a brown belt and the World Cup and World Championship as a black belt in the super heavyweight category — all in a two-year span.
In 2005 Werdum was ready to join the Chute Boxe Academy and train with Wanderlei Silva (Pictures). He was going to be a heavyweight representative and replace Assuerio Silva in the camp and in the PFC. In the final stages of negotiations, Werdum received a phone call from “Cro Cop” agent Ken Imal inviting him to Croatia to train Mirko Filipovic (Pictures) for four months. The deal also included a three-year contract with PRIDE, promising four fights in a year. It was an offer he could not turn down and Werdum now trains as part of the Cro Cop Squad.
Werdum’s MMA debut was at Millennium Brawl in London where he submitted Tenzig Tedoradze in less than two minutes. He fought to a draw with James Zikic (Pictures) on the next MB show and then won a bout in Spain by decision. Werdum submitted Kristof Midoux (Pictures) in Morocco before debuting in the Jungle Fight promotion.
He fought in the first two events, stopping both Gabriel Gonzaga and Ebenezer Fontes Braga with strikes. Werdum made his PFC debut against American wrestler Tom Erikson (Pictures). “Big Cat” took the fight on 12 days notice and could not outwork the crafty Brazilian, losing by rear-choke in less than six minutes.
Werdum battled Red Devil Roman Zentsov (Pictures) at Final Conflict ’05 show and defeated him by triangle choke in the first round. Then last October he lost a split decision to top heavyweight Sergei Kharitonov (Pictures). Many fans (and obviously a judge) felt the bout could’ve gone either way and Werdum may have been slighted.
MY PICK: Werdum. Fabricio has quickly proven himself to be a force at heavyweight and big things are ahead for the promising Brazilian fighter. It will be interesting to see what Einemo brings to the PFC. As a training partner of “Hell Boy” Hansen expectations are high. At 6’ 6”, he’ll have a height and reach advantage over Werdum but it may not matter. Einemo could make this competitive but he’s never fought anyone at this level of the sport so only time will tell. Werdum by submission in the first round.
In the 2003 Abu Dhabi Submission Fighting Championships, Einemo defeated Brandon Vera (Pictures) in the opening round, Larry Popadopoulos in the quarterfinals, Roger Gracie in the semis and Alexandre Ferreira in the final to win the 88kg-98kg division title.
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He began fighting MMA in 2000 and took part in SHOOTO events in Holland and Finland. Einemo made his Japanese debut in 2003 and defeated Mindaugas Kulikauskas in just 47 seconds. Einemo hasn’t fought a MMA bout in over than two years.
WERDUM: Fabricio
Werdum (Pictures) is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black
belt and carries a professional record of 6-1-1 in MMA. He was a
star at the Abu Dhabi Combat Championships in 2003 where he beat
PFC and UFC veteran Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (Pictures) in the opening round, Jehad
Hamdan in the quarterfinals, UFC vet Mike Van Arsdale (Pictures) in the semifinals before losing
to UFC heavyweight Marcio
Cruz (Pictures) in the finals.
In the Absolute Division that year he defeated Matt Lindland (Pictures) and Akira Shoji (Pictures), then lost to RINGS vet Alexandre Ferreira in the semis. He came back to defeat Pe De Pano to win third-place honors. Werdum initially went to Abu Dhabi to help Mark Kerr prepare for his super-fight with Ricardo Arona (Pictures) and then was sponsored by Marcos Vinicius, owner of Beverly Hills Jiu-Jitsu Club. He also trained under Marcio Corleta and Silvio Behring (son of Master Flavio Behring).
Werdum began training jiu-jitsu in 1998 after a girlfriend’s former boyfriend challenged him to a fight. He was unfamiliar with the BJJ and was easily triangle choked in front of his girlfriend. He sought out Winner Behring and instructor Marcio Corleta to begin training. Werdum won world titles and the Pan American championships as a blue belt, the European Cup as a brown belt and the World Cup and World Championship as a black belt in the super heavyweight category — all in a two-year span.
In 2005 Werdum was ready to join the Chute Boxe Academy and train with Wanderlei Silva (Pictures). He was going to be a heavyweight representative and replace Assuerio Silva in the camp and in the PFC. In the final stages of negotiations, Werdum received a phone call from “Cro Cop” agent Ken Imal inviting him to Croatia to train Mirko Filipovic (Pictures) for four months. The deal also included a three-year contract with PRIDE, promising four fights in a year. It was an offer he could not turn down and Werdum now trains as part of the Cro Cop Squad.
Werdum’s MMA debut was at Millennium Brawl in London where he submitted Tenzig Tedoradze in less than two minutes. He fought to a draw with James Zikic (Pictures) on the next MB show and then won a bout in Spain by decision. Werdum submitted Kristof Midoux (Pictures) in Morocco before debuting in the Jungle Fight promotion.
He fought in the first two events, stopping both Gabriel Gonzaga and Ebenezer Fontes Braga with strikes. Werdum made his PFC debut against American wrestler Tom Erikson (Pictures). “Big Cat” took the fight on 12 days notice and could not outwork the crafty Brazilian, losing by rear-choke in less than six minutes.
Werdum battled Red Devil Roman Zentsov (Pictures) at Final Conflict ’05 show and defeated him by triangle choke in the first round. Then last October he lost a split decision to top heavyweight Sergei Kharitonov (Pictures). Many fans (and obviously a judge) felt the bout could’ve gone either way and Werdum may have been slighted.
MY PICK: Werdum. Fabricio has quickly proven himself to be a force at heavyweight and big things are ahead for the promising Brazilian fighter. It will be interesting to see what Einemo brings to the PFC. As a training partner of “Hell Boy” Hansen expectations are high. At 6’ 6”, he’ll have a height and reach advantage over Werdum but it may not matter. Einemo could make this competitive but he’s never fought anyone at this level of the sport so only time will tell. Werdum by submission in the first round.
