10 Questions for Fabricio Werdum

Reality has begun to sink in for Fabricio Werdum. Werdum surrendered the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight title in a knockout loss to Stipe Miocic at UFC 198 on May 14 in Curitiba, Brazil. The defeat snapped a six-fight winning streak for “Vai Cavalo,” who was felled by a right hook from the backpedaling Miocic 2:47 into round one at Arena de Baixada. Having returned to his home in Los Angeles, Werdum has since started the process of picking up the pieces. In this exclusive interview with Sherdog.com, the 38-year-old former champion made no excuses regarding his first loss since 2011, reiterated his hope for an immediate rematch and put forth his belief that his being dethroned was good for the heavyweight division:Sherdog.com: Right after your defeat, many people accused you of having lost focus against Miocic. They said you were more concerned with handing out “happy face” masks, paying homage to Ayrton Senna and having your mother at Octagonside for the first time. Do you think all those external forces were harmful to you? Werdum: A lot of people criticized me, saying I did a lot of clowning and forgot about the fight, but as I said before, that’s my way. Some people like to trash talk. I promote fights by being myself. I was really impressed with how much the happy face helped to promote the event; there was a campaign on Twitter that helped people in the hospital, and I was really moved by that. After the fight, I donated my gloves to help people with serious diseases. I don’t feel bad about my happy face, my jokes or being myself. Most importantly, I never disrespected my opponent. I had won six straight fights doing my happy face, so it’s not fair to say my defeat was because of it. I lost because Miocic was better that night, and I’m not going to change who I am because of one loss.Sherdog.com: With that said, you admit that your anxiety level was higher than normal for this fight. Do you feel like that impacted your performance? Werdum: As I said at the press conference, I’m used to fighting with people cheering against me. Fighting at home at such a historical event in front of 45,000 people in a soccer stadium, paying homage to my idol Ayrton Senna, having my mom come see me fight inside the Octagon for the first time … of course, my anxiety was above normal. In Mexico, for example, I was so …

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