Following his submission victory over the legendary Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC on Fuel 10, UFC heavyweight Fabricio Werdum announced some pretty ambitious plans for himself.
“For those who don’t know, I’m a commentator for the UFC in Spanish because I can speak in Spanish … after living for many years in Spain,” Werdum said through a translator at the post-fight press conference. “I came to the UFC with the idea of doing an ‘Ultimate Fighter’ with (Cain) Velasquez in Mexico.
“I don’t know if he’s going to beat (Junior dos Santos) It’s going to be a very good fight. I’ll be sitting back, observing both of them. … But I’ve already spent one year without fighting because I did ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ here (in Brazil), so I wouldn’t like that to happen again. But if the UFC says wait a little more, do ‘The Ultimate Fighter,’ then fight the champion, I’ll definitely wait and be working out to become a champion.”
UFC executive Marshall Zelaznik clarified that the goal is to host a Latin American version of The Ultimate Fighter that would include Spanish-speaking countries, rather than simply TUF: Mexico. The company, though, would like to tie in TUF: Latin America with a UFC event in Mexico City, though it likely wouldn’t happen until 2014.
Of course all of Werdum’s ambitious goals are contingent on champion Cain Velasquez beating ex-champ Junior dos Santos in their yet-to-be-booked rubber match which is expected to take place in the Fall of 2013. Since The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil was cancelled after its second season, a Werdum-JDS coached season seems very unlikely.
However if Cain wins, Werdum’s Spanish-speaking abilities would put him in a position to be very useful to the UFC as they attempt to expand into Latin America behind their new TV partnership with Televisa.
SBN coverage of UFC on Fuel 10
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