Fabricio Werdum Says UFC Wanted to Sign Him After He Beat Fedor Emelianenko

In October 2008, Junior Dos Santos made his debut with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) as a significant underdog against Fabricio Werdum.

Dos Santos pulled off the upset in a first-round knockout, which prompted the UFC to release Werdum from his contract.

With wins over Brandon Vera and Gabriel Gonzaga, Werdum went 2-2 in a stint with the UFC that lasted from April 2007 until his loss to Dos Santos. After his release, Werdum signed with Strikeforce and has won his last three fights.

After his most recent win over Fedor Emelianenko, Werdum hinted that the UFC expressed interest in bringing him back to the organization. Following Zuffa's purchase of Strikeforce, Werdum was finally free to release a conversation that he had with Joe Silva, Vice President of Talent Relations of the UFC.

In an interview with Tatame, Werdum said, "Now, I can say, right? (laughs) Joe Silva told me to call him as soon as I was ‘free’, to call him to negotiate, but now we’re at the same home again (laughs)."

Widely considered the greatest heavyweight in mixed martial arts (MMA) history, Emelianenko had been heavily favored against Werdum. However, Werdum was able to recover from an early knockdown to submit Emelianenko with the combination of a triangle choke and armbar.

Prior to his fight with Werdum, Emelianenko had only lost one fight, which ended because of a deep cut that was caused 17 seconds into the fight by an elbow strike. Without elbow pads, which Emelianenko's opponent had not been wearing, elbow strikes were illegal under the rules governing that fight.

For becoming the first fighter to hand Emelianenko a legitimate loss, Werdum was handed awards for the best upset and submission of the year in 2010. Since the win, Werdum is also being ranked among the best heavyweights in the world.

Now, Werdum feels he has another chance to compete in the best organization in the world. "Strikeforce was doing well, growing strongly, but let’s face the facts, the UFC is the best of the world, a stronger brand," Werdum told Tatame. 

Werdum may have to wait for his chance to fight under the UFC banner, though. According to UFC President Dana White, the UFC and Strikeforce will continue to operate as separate promotions for the time being. White also elaborated that fighters under contract with Strikeforce will need to finish their deals with that organization before the UFC will negotiate with them.

For now, Werdum's next fight remains scheduled as a Strikeforce fight. Werdum is expected to fight Alistair Overeem in June 2011 in the quarterfinal round of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix.

Sean Smith is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report MMA. For the latest insight and updates on everything MMA, you can follow Sean on Twitter @BR_Sean_Smith.