Fabricio Werdum responds to criticism from Dana White

Last month, on the main card of UFC 213, former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum lost a majority decision to former Strikeforce, Dream and K-1 champ Alistair Overeem. That said, Werdum very nearly won the fight in the third, when he visibly rocked his foe. Unfortunately, the decorated grappler opted to ground the fight, rather than attempt to polish him off on the feet. The stoppage win eluded him as a result.

Post-fight, Werdum’s refusal to try to finish Overeem on the feet generated some backlash from UFC President Dana White:

“He lets it go to the judges so he can’t be upset about that,” White said post fight (via FloCombat.com). “The fight was there to win. [Overeem] was standing up and out on his feet and [Werdum] was hitting him with shots at will and he double legs him and lays on him for the rest of the fight. What are you mad about?”

Speaking to FloCombat, Werdum has now responded to this criticism from White.

“Dana White can say whatever he wants. He’s the president of the UFC. But he’s not the one who’s fighting,” Werdum said.

“Dana White doesn’t know what we’re feeling in there,” he continued. “He can talk, fans can talk, but I followed my strategy.”

Whether White’s criticism was justified or not, Werdum is keen to get back into the Octagon and continue his march back to the title.

“I still want to fight this year, October or November,” he said. “And in 2018 I want to fight at least three times. Having this much time between fights is not cool. A defeat means I’m taking three steps back. Maybe this time it was one step back only, because everyone saw how the fight went, the way it was. I think I’m two fights away from the belt, one [victory] in November and then another one.”

Who do you want to see Fabricio Werdum fight next?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 8/7/2017.