Fabricio Werdum Confident He Would Submit Jon Jones in Heavyweight Bout

Although his Professional Fighters League debut is expected for April 23, former UFC champion Fabricio Werdum still doesn’t know who he will face.

  “While they don’t give my opponent’s name, I heard it would be a Brazilian,” Werdum said. “I´m keeping myself in shape doing some cardio here in Brazil, but on Feb. 20 I'm going to Los Angeles, where I'll start my camp with master Rafael Cordeiro at Kings MMA.”

In the meantime, Werdum will keep on eye on this Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 184 headliner between Alistair Overeem and Alexander Volkov. Werdum, who has losses to both Volkov and Overeem (twice) on his resume, gives the Dutch veteran the edge in this instance.

“Overeem has both knockout power and experience to control the distance,” Werdum said. “I believe he is a bad matchup for Volkov.”

As for the following week, Werdum likes Gilbert Burns to pull the upset against Kamaru Usman to claim welterweight gold in the UFC 258 headliner. “Vai Cavalo” believes Burns might have gained a mental advantage when the two were training partners at various Florida locations from the Blackzilians to Sanford MMA.

"I always tought it was strange the way Usman postponed that fight a couple of times,” Werdum said. “Nobody ever told me about their sparring but, for the anxious way Burns wanted it and Kamaru didn’t, I would bet Kamaru had something to be afraid of. My bet is that ‘Durinho’ will win the belt via submission.”

Although he is very happy with the respectful way PFL has welcomed him, Werdum said he expects that cross-promotional super fights will eventually be a reality. That would allow him a chance to face former UFC light heavyweight Jon Jones.   

“I believe Jones will be the future UFC heavyweight champion,” Werdum said. “If I win the PFL heavyweight grand prix, it would be great to finally fight him in a cross promotion superfight. I have no doubt that if I face Jones in the same shape I fought Gustafsson, I would submit him on the ground.”

Werdum also revealed a business partnership with Tyson Ranch, Mike Tyson’s 420-acre cannabis resort.

“I talked to Mike that I would love to take CBD to Brazil, and he loved the idea. The situation of CBD in Brazil is different from USA, but we are working on that,” Werdum said.

In the most humorous part of the interview, ‘Vai Cavalo’ revealed that Rede Globo invited him to take part in the 20th edition of most popular reality show on Brazilian TV, “Big Brother.” However, he declined in large part due to the presence of cameras in the bathroom.

"Imagine all Brazilian looking at my sh— and living three months without having sex,” he said. “Furthermore I would lose my family, because my wife would break up with me immediately. When the guy started to talk I immediately interrupted and declined,” he said.