Ever since his arrival in the 2021 Professional Fighter’s League (PFL) season, Fabricio Werdum (24-9-1) has been considered the Tom Brady of MMA. Considered one of the greatest players in the history of American football, Brady announced his retirement from the NFL this offseason. However, he took retirement back in just over a month.
This move from Brady was said to be one of the most “out of the box” moments in the sport’s history. It’s unclear if Werdum ends up being on the same wavelength.
“Vai Cavalo” revealed that his days of competing in cages are likely to be over as he was omitted from the 2022 PFL Heavyweight roster.
“After 24 years of being in the ring, it is a very complicated time for me and my family. Even my wife continues to push me to close the chapter on my career, but I refuse,” Werdum revealed.
“However, it is likely that I won’t continue in MMA. It is difficult for me to stay in the USA for two to three months as I’ve been living in Brazil for almost a year now. If I am given a chance to do boxing, I will take it definitely.”
Fabricio Werdum is considered one of the pillars of the success mixed martial arts has enjoyed in the modern era, yet the cage-fighting legend is now open to starting a boxing career.
For the upcoming season, Werdum was omitted from the 2022 PFL super heavyweight squad, which left him likely to retire.
At the age of 44, he has compared himself to Tom Brady and wants to keep fighting in some form.
He is also a 4-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion, a two-time Abu Dhabi Combat Club World Heavyweight Champion and a European jiu-jitsu champion. He holds a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Judo, and Muay Thai. Werdum has competed in PRIDE, the UFC, Strikeforce, and Jungle Fight. At the time of his departure from the UFC, Werdum was #14 in the UFC heavyweight rankings.
On November 16, 2020, Werdum announced he had signed a multi-fight deal with the Professional Fighters League promotion and will compete in the 2021 PFL heavyweight tournament. He made his promotional debut against Team Nogueira fighter Renan Ferreira on May 6, 2021, at PFL 3.
He lost the fight via technical knockout in the first round. The loss was surrounded by controversy as replays showed Ferreira tapping out while Werdum had him locked into a triangle choke right before Ferreira finished Werdum. On May 10, the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board announced that Ferreira’s TKO win against Werdum was overturned to a no-contest due to the controversy of the stoppage.
Werdum was scheduled to face Brandon Sayles on June 25, 2021, at PFL 6. However, it was later announced that Werdum had pulled out due to injuries suffered in his last bout.
