Fabricio Werdum the No. 1 Heavyweight If He Wins Strikeforce Grand Prix?

Following Antonio Silva's upset win over heavyweight great Fedor Emelianenko less than two weeks ago, many proposed the notion that it devalued Fabricio Werdum's earlier defeat of Emelianenko one year prior.

For myself, that never registered.

Werdum was the first to take down the great Russian and he did so without the physical advantages that the much larger Silva enjoyed.

The way I saw it, Werdum's stock only rose after Silva's dominant performance in the first round of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix.

One fight prior to Werdum's career defining submission over Emelianenko, he won an impressive three-round unanimous decision over Silva. Werdum, a Jiu-Jitsu specialist, won the fight in every area, with his striking looking better than ever before in his career.

After Silva's breakout win earlier this month, Werdum's win over him only gains importance.

That makes it two stellar wins in a row over top-ten opposition for Werdum, and his future only gets more difficult.

In the first round of the Grand Prix, Werdum faces Strikeforce heavyweight champ Alistair Overeem in a rematch of a 2006 win for Werdum in Pride Fighting Championships. The odds at this moment have Overeem listed at over a 3 to 1 favorite to avenge his previous loss.

There are many assuming Overeem will run right through Werdum, but this doesn't seem to affect the Brazilian.

“No problem. I’m confident,” Werdum confidently told MMAFighting.com. “The last time I got the left [with a kimura], this time the right arm.”

If Werdum does conquer yet another daunting task in Overeem, a rematch with the much larger Silva is waiting behind him in the Grand Prix semi-finals. With another win there, Werdum will face the whoever emerges the winner between Josh Barnett, Sergei Kharitonov, and Brett Rogers—Barnett is a widely accepted favorite to make the finals.

So, if Werdum is to win this whole tournament, he will have put together wins over Silva, Emelianenko, Overeem, Silva again, and then likely Barnett or Kharitonov.

And most say that will not make him the top ranked heavyweight in the world?

Cain Velasquez is the current No. 1 heavyweight right now, and with good reason. He is the UFC champ, he is undefeated, and last year stopped Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Brock Lesnar brutally in the first round. No issue here.

But, Velasquez is out of action for the majority of this year with a torn rotator cuff that he suffered in his win over Lesnar, and will likely have been out of action for close to a year by the time he returns. During that time, the Strikeforce Grand Prix will be the highlight of 2011's heavyweight action.

If Werdum puts together wins over Silva, Emelianenko, Overeem, Silva, Barnett or Kharitonov, while Velasquez sits idle on the sidelines, I will have a hard time not putting Werdum at the top of the list.

Velasquez's top four wins have come in his last four fights over Cheick Kongo, Ben Rothwell, Nogueira, and Lesnar.

Kongo and Rothwell are basically journeymen at this point and Nogueira's best days are years behind him.

I am not usually one to discredit any win, as all of Velasquez's have been nothing less than stellar, but Lesnar is his biggest achievement and the jury is still somewhat out on him as to how good he really is.

If Werdum wins this tournament, I would go as far as saying that there is absolutely no doubt that he is the No. 1 heavyweight in the world.

But, considering Werdum still has yet to even begin his run through the bracket, that is a long way off and a lot of "what if's".

However, it is always interesting when a fighter has the chance to become the top dog in any division, fighting outside of the UFC.