What Is Fabrício Werdum's Net Worth?
Fabrício Werdum is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who has a net worth of $1 million. Fabrício Werdum was at one point the UFC Heavyweight Champion. He is also a two-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion as well as a two-time Abu Dhabi Combat Club World Heavyweight Champion. Werdum has been a European jiu-jitsu champion and has black belts in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai, and Judo.
As an MMA fighter, he has competed in UFC, PRIDE, Strikeforce, and Jungle Fight. Werdum made his debut in June 2002, defeating Tengiz Tedoradze. In November 2014, he defeated Mark Hunt to win the Interim UFC Heavyweight Championship. Fabrício defeated Cain Velasquez in June 2015 to win and unify the UFC Heavyweight Championship and bring his professional record to 20 – 5 – 1. As of that fight, Werdum was ranked #6 in the UFC pound-for-pound rankings and is listed as the #1 heavyweight and #8 pound-for-pound fighter in the world by Sherdog.com. He has also won several gold, silver, and bronze metals competing for Brazil at the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championships, IBJJF World Jiu-Jitsu Championships, and Pan American Jiu-Jitsu Championships.
Early Life
Fabrício Werdum was born on July 30, 1977, in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. His mother is of Spanish descent. He started training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu after having the negative experience of being choked unconscious by the ex-boyfriend of his girlfriend. Fabrício started training with Marcio Corleta at the Porto Alegre Academy. After succeeding in competitive Brazilian jiu-jitsu, as well as submission grappling, he started training in MMA fighting. He moved to Spain to join his mother, who was living in Madrid.
Career
While in Madrid, Werdum began teaching Brazilian jiu-jitsu as a purple belt. Though he only was training with white and blue belts, he became a BJJ World Champion and was promoted to the rank of black belt by Master Sylvio Behring three years later. Fabrício had also begun training in MMA fighting. He lived in Zagreb, Croatia, from 2004 to 2006, where he trained with Mirko Filipovic.
Werdum's early MMA fights were with the promotions Jungle Fight, Millennium Brawl, and World Absolute Fight. In 2005, he made his PRIDE debut, a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion company, against Tom Erikson, winning by submission. He later faced Roman Zentsov in PRIDE Final Conflict 2005 and defeated him by a triangle choke during the first round. Fabrício experienced his first loss against Sergei Kharitonov via split decision. In early 2006, he defeated Jon Olav Einemo by unanimous decision in PRIDE 31. Later that year, he entered the PRIDE Open Weight Grand Prix, where he won a match and then lost a match against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
Werdum debuted in the UFC in April of 2007 at UFC 70: Nations Collide. He faced former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski and lost via unanimous decision. He began to train at Chute Boxe Academy and became a more aggressive fighter, particularly showing signs of improvement in his striking and Muay Thai attacks. At UFC 80 in January of 2008, Werdum met Gabriel Gonzaga and won the match by knockout. He later fought Brandon Vera and defeated him in the first round. At UFC 90, Fabrício was heavily favored to win but was knocked out in under two minutes by the debuting fighter, Junior dos Santos. After the loss, Werdum's contract was terminated by the UFC. He had no idea he was cut from the organization as he was not contacted directly. He initially denied the news that he was cut, claiming it was just a rumor, before it was confirmed to him.
After leaving the UFC, Werdum signed with Strikeforce. He made his debut at Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg in August of 2009 against fellow UFC veteran Mike "MAK" Kyle. He won by submission in under 90 seconds of the first round. Fabrício followed up the win with another victory by unanimous decision over Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers.
At Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum in June of 2010, Werdum faced former PRIDE Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko. In an enormous upset victory, Werdum forced Fedor to tap out via triangle/armbar just over a minute into the first round. His victory ended Emelianenko's 28-fight unbeaten streak and also propelled Werdum's status up the Heavyweight rankings, as he was ranked the third-best in the Heavyweight category of MMA. The following year, in June of 2001, Fabrício was defeated at Strikeforce: Dallas by Alistair Overeem.
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In November 2011, Werdum returned to the UFC via contract-signing. His return match was against Roy Nelson in February 2012. He won the fight via unanimous decision, and the bout won the "Fight of the Night" honors due to the exciting back-and-forth sparring between Werdum and Nelson. He next faced Mike Russow in June of 2012 and won by total knockout.
Werdum appeared in the second season of "The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil" as a coach alongside Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. At the conclusion of the season, the two coaches fought each other, and Fabrício won by verbal submission due to an armbar in the second round. He later fought Travis Browne at UFC on Fox 11 in a Heavyweight title eliminator bout. Though he was the underdog, Werdum dominated the fight for nearly all five rounds and won via unanimous decision.
In June 2015, Werdum fought Cain Valesquez for the UFC Heavyweight Championship. He won the match, becoming the undisputed champion and also signed a new eight-fight contract with the UFC. He held on to the title until May 2016. In the years that followed, Fabrício suffered from a number of injuries, often having to pull out of scheduled fights.
In September 2018, he was suspended from competition for two years due to a doping violation. His suspension was later reduced to 10 months. He returned to competition in 2020, winning a fight against Alexander Gustafsson. He chose not to re-sign with UFC following the fight. He subsequently signed a multi-fight deal with the Professional Fighters League in late 2020.
Personal Life
Fabrício is married to Karine Groff Werdum. The couple married in 2003. His wife is Brazilian, and she works as a public relations officer and founded a photography company. They have two daughters, Juana and Julia. Werdum is fluent in Portuguese, English, and Spanish. Fabrício and his family live in Los Angeles, California. In 2019, Werdum made the news for reasons other than his fighting career when he and a lifeguard rescued some drowning teenagers at a beach near his home in Torrance, California.
