Fabrício Werdum details life-threatening health issues he’s had since UFC title reign

Former UFC heavyweight champion Fabrício Werdum is the latest big-name former fighter to share extensive brain damage testimony in the Le vs. Zuffa UFC lawsuit.

Werdum, former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida, and others have provided testimonies in the ongoing Le vs. Zuffa lawsuit. The new settlement in the lawsuit is $375 million; with fighters accusing Zuffa and the UFC of violating anti-trust laws related to fighter pay and anticompetitive tactics.

Werdum’s testimony this week was startling.

“I have many lesions and scarring on my brain, and I have a cyst that is located centrally within my brain making surgery thus far impossible,” Werdum said in a statement. “I monitor this cyst with biannual exams to determine if it is growing.”

In a recent testimony, Machida didn’t claim any health concerns but did include what he’d use his portion awarded in the case for.

Fabricio Werdum reveals brain damage in Le vs. Zuffa court case

Werdum is one of the greatest UFC heavyweights of all time. He won the UFC heavyweight title by finishing Cain Velasquez at UFC 188 to cap off a six-fight winning streak inside the Octagon at the time.

Before signing with the UFC, Werdum was a force in Strikeforce. He snapped Fedor Emelianenko’s lengthy win streak in 2010 by submitting the Russian legend with a triangle armbar.

Werdum earned UFC victories over the likes of Travis Browne, Mark Hunt, and Alexander Gustafsson during his promotional tenure. He parted ways from the UFC in 2020, signing with the PFL and falling to Renan Ferreira in May 2021.

Werdum returned to MMA last year at Gamebred Fighting Championship 5. He lost to former UFC titleholder Junior dos Santos by split decision in his bare-knuckle MMA debut.

Werdum has accumulated a 24-10-1 record in his professional MMA career. Before transitioning full-time to MMA, he won six ADCC Submission Wrestling medals.