Fabricio Werdum: “Overeem Is My Son”

Werdum ready to shock the world once again

Brazilian heavyweight Fabricio Werdum turned MMA on its ear when he pulled off the “submission heard around the world” against the once invincible Fedor Emelianenko.

Werdum will once again look to play the role of giant killer on Saturday night when he steps into face “The Demolition Man” Alistair Overeem in their first round matchup at Strikeforce’s Heavyweight Grand Prix tournament.

HeavyMMA.com recently caught up with Werdum to discuss his training regimen.

“I’m feeling good. I haven’t stopped training and after my surgery following my last fight I’m feeling great. I had two months to recover but as soon as I was able to get back I’ve been training non-stop for the past eight months. I train hard every day and I’ve been spreading it out at a couple of gyms. I train here at King’s MMA and then with Mark Munoz at Reign and at my own gym. I’m at a point where I’m training Sunday to Sunday.”

“I’m very confident and people are saying that Overeem is very strong. He has good Muay Thai, but I have good Muay Thai too. I have great jiu-jitsu and while striking is his biggest weapon I have a lot of weapons as well.”

Overeem has looked nothing short of unstoppable in his past several outings as he has put away opponents in devastating fashion. Werdum only sees this as further motivation and the fact that he holds a victory over the Dutch striker in a tournament format helps Werdum feel confident heading into Dallas.

“I like that people say Overeem is the favorite. I like that a lot. I like going into the cage as the underdog because I’ve been training very hard, non-stop for everything that he can bring to the table. I spar with the best guys in the world…Wanderlei, Babalu, Mark Munoz, Shogun and I see many different aspects of striking on a regular basis. I also don’t pay any attention to what Overeem is doing for training because my only focus is on what I want to do and how I train. I’m in great shape. I’m 100% and my mind is sharp.”

Werdum continued, “I love the Grand Prix format. The last time I beat Overeem was also in a Grand Prix and in the first round of the tournament. This fight in Dallas is also the first round of a Grand Prix. It takes place in June and June is my month.”

Werdum is considered to be one of the top submission artist in the heavyweight division but Fabricio wanted to make it perfectly clear that while Brazilian jiu-jitsu is his forte, he is dangerous anywhere the fight goes.

“Everybody knows my specialty is on the ground. In my last fight I showed a big surprise to everybody so I want to say it now: coming up in Dallas, I plan to show everybody another big surprise. People may not believe me but when June 18th comes around I have another big surprise to show the world.”

Werdum also took the time to clear up a recent joke he felt may have been lost in translation and in doing so, sent a message easily understood in the English language.

“In Brazil we make jokes and in a recent interview, Overeem didn’t understand a joke I made because I said he was my son. I’ll explain it right now. If we were playing Xbox and I beat you three times then you are my son. So since I’ve beat him and when I do it again he is my son. After the fight I will grab the microphone and say “Who’s your daddy?”