One of UFC’s biggest stars, Fabricio Werdum, also known as Vai Cavallo, has expressed interest in joining the WWE.
Werdum, a UFC heavyweight champion, who will face off against Alexander Volkov in London on March 17, 2018, is said to be in negotiations with the WWE with whom he is set to meet with this week. The new challenge, however, does not mean Werdum would abandon the WWE.
”I think that both [at the same time] is doable,” Werdum said. “You can do [pro wrestling]. … If I had the opportunity I’d fight there, no problem. It’s financially great. Fight at [pro wrestling], a spectacle that is fun to do. I’d definitely do it. I have a meeting Thursday about it, doing both [UFC and pro wrestling]. I want to fight, doesn’t matter where.”
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Werdum, 40, has been encouraged by Rob Hickman, the producer of the 2016 film Kickboxer, to meet with the pro wrestling group.
“It’s cool, a unique opportunity to do a few fights there as well," Werdum said. "People think it’s easy, but it’s not. You have to be well trained to do those jumps, you have to be agile. It’s not easy as some people might think. It’s quite complicated. You have to be well trained and practice a lot to captivate the audience.”
Werdum, who hails from Porto Alegre, Brazil, is a mixed martial master, who has won the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Championship and the Abu Dhabi Combat Club World Heavyweight Championship twice, as well as the European Jiu-Jitsu Championship. He boasts black belts in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Judo, and Muay Thai. He also owns and operates the Werdum Combat Team school in Venice, CA.
”I’m fluent in Spanish, so I can do a character that speaks Spanish,” Werdum said. “That would be cool. I’d really like to have this opportunity to do this and captivate the Latin audience because they really love (pro wrestling). I’d be thrilled to do a fight there, or more, or a contract, because there’s no problem with the UFC since it’s not a real fight, it’s more of a show.”
Some of his UFC competitors, however, have expressed disdain for Werdum’s career goals, notably, heavyweight contender Derrick Lewis who told the Slip n’ Dip podcast, “Me, I couldn’t do [WWE] because I’d be laughing my ass off. I couldn’t keep a straight face pretending like I’m hurt, this and that. I couldn’t do it.”
It remains to be seen if Werdum’s WWE ambitions come to fruition.