UFC: Alexander Gustafsson taps to Fabricio Werdum’s first-round arm bar on Fight Island heavyweight debut
- Former champion Werdum makes quick work of ‘The Mauler’ in Abu Dhabi with 12th career submission win
- ‘I told him, it’s just inside the cage, that’s it,’ says Werdum after bad blood from sparring session eight years ago added some spice
Fabricio Werdum talked about welcoming Alexander Gustafsson to the heavyweight division with a submission, he just didn’t know which one he’d choose.
In the end, it was an arm bar that did for “The Mauler” (18-7) after two and a half minutes of the first round at UFC Fight Island 3 in Abu Dhabi. Picking up his 12th career submission win, it was an impressive performance for the 42-year-old Werdum (24-9-1), who – ranked No 14 – is still keen to do some damage in the division he once ruled.
Some bad blood had turned this into something of a grudge match, with a bit of pre-fight trash talk spicing things up.
“I trained with him a long time ago, eight years,” Werdum said in his post-fight interview. “He said he broke my nose but I never broke my nose in my life. I saw him, to his face I said to him, ‘It’s just inside the cage, that’s it’.”
When you hit the ground with Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Werdum, it will inevitably be a short night for you. After some early exchanges on the feet, Werdum shot for the single leg, and former light heavyweight challenger Gustafsson initially did a good job fighting it.