This weekend will mark the eighteenth time Werdum has competed in the UFC and it will also be his last fight in the promotion.
“There’s no possibility (of renewing my UFC contract). All those years with the UFC have been good. We had a good relationship. We disagreed sometimes, but those things happen in a normal relationship,” Werdum said to AG Fight (via Cole Shelton of BJPenn.com). “I’m thankful to the UFC for all these years. It’s practically where I made my career. I’ve always wanted to join the UFC and they gave me that opportunity twice. I was fired and asked to come back because I kept bothering them about it. But the cycle is over. It was a good cycle so far. Now I want to move on with my career, I want to do it my way. Maybe I’ll fight for a different company, I’ve fought for many of them, I want to have choices.”
Werdum has had a lot of success competing in the UFC, earning the UFC Interim Heavyweight Title and UFC Heavyweight Title during his time there.
The fighter cites those title wins, as well as the time spent as a color commentator as some of the highlights of his UFC run.
“This trajectory that I had in the UFC was very cool, it was a very good and happy moment. Twice champion, I beat Mark Hunt, then I beat Cain Velasquez, apart from other fights too. And I don’t only count the victories, of course I don’t like to lose, but the defeats also made me grow a lot,” Werdum said. “This part as a commentator too, eight years ago as a commentator in Spanish. It was all part of my career. We had fights, arguments, we didn’t agree on some things, I was fired (laughs). But this has passed, this is already passed, now it is a ball forward and just to thank you. I can only thank the UFC for all these years of victories.”
UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs. Till takes place on Saturday, July 25 from Fight Island in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi with Robert Whittaker and Darren Till headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, which airs live on ESPN.
