Renan Ferreira fires back at Fabricio Werdum following controversial win in PFL

Brazilian heavyweight Renan Ferreira fired back at his countryman Fabricio Werdum following his recent controversial win in PFL.

Ferreira scored the biggest win of his MMA career to date when he knocked out Werdum in the first round of their PFL regular season fight, but the finish was controversial as it appeared as though Ferreira had tapped to a triangle choke seconds beforehand. Werdum was upset about the finish and his team has already appealed the result of the contest. Fans online for the most part seem to agree there was a tapout, but the referee missed it and Ferreira didn’t acknowledge it, thus leading to Werdum not getting his hand raised.

Ferreira, though, maintains his innocence and believes the result of the contest should stand. In an interview with Combate, Ferreira denied that he tapped out to Werdum.

“I was looking for his head to strike. In slow motion, it looks like I tapped. But when you play the video in normal speed, you cannot say that it was a tap. The referee was on top, on the side looking. He said he loosened it, but he did not loosen it at any time. His triangle was not well fitted, it was on the tip of the foot. His foot was almost on his calf, he hadn’t fit the triangle very well, you know? He didn’t let go, he didn’t let go, and I kept striking, you can see that at no time do I stop striking,” Ferreira said.

Ferreira currently has six points in the PFL tournament standings due to his win in this fight by a first-round stoppage. However, if the fight is overturned to a No Contest, he would get only 1 point instead. Werdum currently has zero points but would also get 1 if the fight was overturned to a No Contest. We will find out soon what the athletic commission says.

In the meantime, Ferreira couldn’t help but voice his displeasure about Werdum suggesting that he wasn’t honorable in the fight, while also sending a few choice words to his rival.

“I am very sad with this version that he is telling, he is talking (expletive). I have a clear conscience. It is already his attitude to speak of character, of not being a man, of this or that, it is his posture. I have the full conception of what I did. My conscience is clear, I have my head up and let’s go to the next one,” Ferreira said.

What did you think of the finish in the Renan Ferreira vs. Fabricio Werdum fight?