Stay in the Shallow End: Fabricio Werdum Not Ready For Fedor

Ambition is certainly a necessary quality to have if you want to get ahead in your profession. It can make you push yourself harder and set you up for opportunities that would never have materialized if you let things simply take their course.

However, in certain professions the downside of failed ambition isn't just losing your job, it's losing complete consciousness. 

There is no doubt that Fabricio Werdum is a talented MMA heavyweight. There is, however, some doubt that he is ready to step into the ring against current heavyweight sensation Fedor Emelianenko. 

That doubt just doesn't exist in Fabricio's mind. 

"I want to fight Fedor," he demanded, through his interpreter, after his first round submission victory over Mike Kyle on Saturday night in his Strikeforce debut. While the victory was solid, it wasn't exactly breaking any new ground for the Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist. 

During his UFC run, Werdum handled solid, but inconsistent heavyweights, Gabriel Gonzaga and Brandon Vera in TKO victories.

However, he faltered when the competition stepped up a notch. In addition to losing a decision to Andrei Arlovski in his UFC debut, he also suffered a loss to rising contender Junior Dos Santos in October, that led to his removal from the UFC. 

In his first fight since the removal, Werdum was able to beat another unspectacular opponent in Kyle. Sporting a 12-7 record and no wins over title contenders, the American is not exactly a tune-up for a talent like Fedor.

He represents the type of opponent that Werdum has never seen. The Brazilian has seen his share of skilled strikers and guys with competent ground games, but nobody with the well-rounded skill-set of Fedor. A Judo expert, the big Russian would be the toughest test Werdum has ever faced in a clinch or grappling situation.

Fedor has submitted talented wrestlers (Kevin Randleman), Judo experts (Naoya Ogawa) and UFC ground-and-pound legends (Mark Coleman), all of whom are arguably as dangerous in their area of expertise, if not more so, than Werdum is in his.

But not only that, Werdum's jiu-jitsu specialty is also a strength of Fedor's. In fact, more than half of the Russian's 30 wins have come by submission.

And if the fight were to stay on its feet, the Brazilian would find himself in too deep there as well. Even though he won his two UFC bouts by TKO, striking is not the strength of Fabricio's game.

How can he manage to bang with a guy who took all that Cro Cop and Noguiera had to offer and wound up victorious? (twice in the case of Noguiera).

The quick answer is that he can't. So unless he wants to see his title hopes in another competition dashed in an instant, he should close his mouth and prove that he can beat a legitimate contender before trying to challenge a champion that would certainly be able to demonstrate the dangers of over-ambition.