Werdum battles to earn return to UFC

A first-round knockout at the hands of Junior dos Santos led to Fabricio Werdum's release from the Ultimate Fighting Championship more than three years ago.

The 34-year-old Brazilian was bitter about the decision at first but quickly made up his mind he would do whatever it took to work his way back to the organization. That meant getting as many quality wins as possible and making sure everyone knew he still was around and wanted back into the sport's top level.

The decorated jiujitsu practitioner, who probably has the most developed ground game in the heavyweight division, could not have scored a bigger victory to keep him relevant to mixed martial arts followers and UFC executives than he did in June 2010, when he submitted Fedor Emelianenko in the first round of a Strikeforce bout. While some of the luster has worn off Emelianenko now, he then still was a mythical phenom who had not been defeated.

Werdum remains proud of pulling the upset.

"The only thing that can compare to what happened against Fedor was the day my daughter was born," he said.

That victory, combined with two other wins and a competitive loss to Alistair Overeem during his run in Strikeforce, have earned Werdum a spot back on the UFC roster. He makes his return Saturday night against Las Vegan Roy Nelson on the UFC 143 card at Mandalay Bay.

"I'm very happy (to be back). This has been my goal," Werdum said. "I have campaigned on Twitter. I have campaigned on Facebook. I really wanted to come back to the UFC."

Nelson says Werdum returns as one of the division's best fighters.

"As a fighter, you always want to fight the best in the world, and Fabricio is a guy who beat the guy who was undefeated for 10 years," Nelson said. "He beat the guy in the stand-up in Overeem, who was the K-1 (kick-boxing) champion."

Werdum seems thrilled simply to have made it back, though a win over Nelson, coupled with his outside accomplishments, would put him back near the top of the division and on the cusp of title contention.

His only two losses since 2007 were to dos Santos, the current champion, and Overeem, who will challenge dos Santos for the belt this year.

Werdum also is seeking redemption. He was not pleased with the way his UFC career came to an abrupt stop after the dos Santos loss.

"I didn't like my last fight in the UFC because I lost the first knockout of my career," he said. "Everything has changed now. I'm more professional now. I'm training every day. My mind is good."

While Werdum longed to make it back to the UFC and hopes to win the belt down the road, he knows the win over Emelianenko might go down as the biggest moment in his career. That alone makes the time he spent away worth it. He has come to the conclusion there was a purpose to the way it all went down.

"I had the best fight of my career, which was Fedor," he said. "I believe God made me take a longer road for some reason. I think fighting Fedor was the one thing I had to do in my career, and now I'm back, and I'm stronger."

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.